FL FL-Pinellas Co, BlkMale, 21-35, UP2301, Jumped 15 feet from St. Petersburg Pier, Apr '99

[phantomstrider]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Date Body Found April 2, 1999
Location St. Petersburg, Florida
Estimated Age Range 21-35 years
Sex Male
Race/Ethnicity Black/African American
Estimated Age Group Adult- Pre 40
Estimated Year of Death 0-1999
Estimated PMI 0 days
Location St Petersburg, Florida 33701
County Pinellas County
Circumstances of Recovery Witnessed to have jumped from St. Petersburg Pier 15 feet into the water. Surfaced one time, yelled, and went back under. Pronounced dead at scene.
Inventory of Remains All parts recovered
Condition of Remains Recognizable face
Hair Color Black
Eye Color Short with frontal balding
Facial Hair Description Clean Shaven
Eye Color Brown
Clothing Blue Polo style shirt size medium, tan pants with brown belt, white briefs, and 2 gray dress socks.
Footwear 2 black dress shoes/loafers.

 

[PatLaurel]

15 Missing Person Exclusions

 

[iulia]

From his Doe Network page - 1319UMFL

decedent's clothing

Distinguishing Marks/Features: Striae on lateral chest and upper arms.

Dentals: Available.
Fingerprints: Available.
DNA: Available.

 

[MagicCityMan]

1319UMFL

www.doenetwork.org

There's also a Samantha Steinberg reconstruction on the Doe Network page.

The detail that really gets me is that he popped up out of the water and screamed...that is just so unbelievably sad. He might have regretted his decision to jump in that moment and wished he could take it back.

There is no mention of a toxicology report but it seems plausible that he was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

He was dressed pretty nicely and in a style/manner that to me puts him at the older end of the age range. Also the receding hairline; although that sometimes can happen at a pretty young age.

This guy has to be missed by someone.

Edit: Of course mental illness or some kind of mental break could be the reason he jumped as well.

 

[Triss]

15 Missing Person Exclusions

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Thank you for posting! So weird to see a female exclusion on male remains.

 

[PayrollNerd]

To be dressed as if he were some type of office worker, or sales person, makes me think someone had to wonder what happened to him at the time. Coworkers, acquaintances, peers, friends? Nobody reported him missing?

Surfacing and yelling makes me think he didn’t know how to swim, or perhaps wasn’t expecting the water to be as deep as it was.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Did he have a gym membership that his weight would have fluctuated enough to cause stretch marks?

Distinguishing Marks/Features: Striae on lateral chest and upper arms.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Thank you for posting! So weird to see a female exclusion on male remains.

I’m thinking she presented as female but was genetically male. It’s nice that they listed her as she wished to be if that is indeed the case.

 

[PatLaurel]

Thank you for posting! So weird to see a female exclusion on male remains.

I found it weird too when I saw it.

I’m thinking she presented as female but was genetically male. It’s nice that they listed her as she wished to be if that is indeed the case.

That was my first thought, as well. But Aretha had two sons and the family made no mention of her being trans.
Aretha Novell Chism - Newspapers.com
Aretha Matthews Chism - Newspapers.com

 

[MagicCityMan]

To be dressed as if he were some type of office worker, or sales person, makes me think someone had to wonder what happened to him at the time. Coworkers, acquaintances, peers, friends? Nobody reported him missing?

Surfacing and yelling makes me think he didn’t know how to swim, or perhaps wasn’t expecting the water to be as deep as it was.

Exactly what I was thinking with regards to his clothes. I can picture him in a cubicle with a phone and a computer with those gigantic monitors that seem funny looking to us now. Polo shirt, tan/khaki pants, belt and dress shoes may as well have been a uniform when I was working in an office environment back in the early 00's.
I did initially think about the possibility of it just being a young dude does something stupid and it goes horribly wrong kind of scenario. As far as we know he was alone which makes that less likely in my opinion. As someone who was a young guy once, much more likely to do something impulsive/stupid like that in a group setting.
I still think he was either suicidal, under the influence, or having a mental break or perhaps some combination of all three of those things. He probably could not swim which is why he picked that method of suicide.
It would be awesome to see newspaper articles about this incident if they are available.... @PatLaurel

 

[PatLaurel]

It would be awesome to see newspaper articles about this incident if they are available.... @PatLaurel

UP2301 - Newspapers.com

 

[MagicCityMan]

UP2301 - Newspapers.com

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Wow you are quick!!
So the cops at the time had essentially the same questions we do now.
I wonder why that polaroid that was taken isn't on Namus or DoeNetwork?
Since it was taken shortly after death he would be recognizable.
It's also a real shame that despite there being a lot of people on the beach that no one tried to go in and help him.

 

[Oakie]

It might be that he was a recent immigrant from Haiti, the West Indies, or even Africa, and had no family around to look for him....

 

[MagicCityMan]

It might be that he was a recent immigrant from Haiti, the West Indies, or even Africa, and had no family around to look for him....

Yes that could very well be the case.
I think it's his attire that is confusing in the sense that it appears as someone who was gainfully employed and took care of himself. What makes it confusing is someone would certainly notice this guy's absence. Even if he was an immigrant with no family he must have had co workers, acquaintances etc. He didn't live in a vacuum. I guess we could say that for every UID.
Immigrant or from the U.S. it is reasonable to assume he was far from home....maybe he didn't make any close bonds with co workers or neighbors and when he left ot was not really noticed....hell no one even bothered to try and help the man. The newspaper article eludes to the fact that a lot of "sunbathers" were unfazed. The last guy quoted was essentially saying "oh well".
Kind of upsetting.

 

[megs1477]

Dressed nicely, but with no identification...my initial impression is someone who wants to look respectable when they leave this world. Someone with faith, but who has given up. I will note about the sunbathers, while definitely upsetting, it is not surprising. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is not too far down the road and is an unaliving magnet. jmo