ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A St. Petersburg man died Friday after a boating incident in Lake Seminole, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said deputies were sent to the lake at about 2:17 p.m. after learning a boat carrying two people was taking on water.
Seminole Fire Rescue saved the boat’s occupants, 39-year-old Shawn Thomas of St. Petersburg and 37-year-old Alexandra Dumervil of St. Petersburg, and brought them to shore, according to deputies.
Hours later, the sheriff’s office got multiple calls about a man going underwater after his boat capsized.
Detectives said that after Thomas was rescued from the first incident, he and his friend, 74-year-old Joe Wright, tried to recover Thomas’ boat from the water.
Once Thomas got on his boat, the vessel capsized. Deputies said Wright tried to save him but couldn’t pull him out of the water.
Wright lost sight of Thomas and never saw him resurface, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies searched for Thomas until around 9:47 p.m. when they found his body 10 yards away from where he was last seen.
The sheriff’s office said it did not appear that drugs or alcohol contributed to the incident. Thomas was not wearing a life vest at the time, deputies said.