Body Found Floating Near State Road 70 Bridge: Manatee County Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — The body of a man who went underwater Friday morning while talking to detectives trying to coax him out of the Braden River was found floating near the State Road 70 bridge, authorities said.

Shaun Wear’s body was found by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office marine unit Saturday morning about 400 yards from where he was last seen, the agency said in a news release.

Detectives found no evidence of trauma and the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the 39-year-old’s death as an accidental drowning, MCSO said.

Just after 8 a.m. Friday, deputies responded to calls about a man screaming while walking in the woods on a small island in the Braden River. They found him wading waist deep in the river behind homes in the 5400 block of 56th Court East, the sheriff’s office said,

The man — later identified as Wear — told deputies who were standing on the dock of a nearby home that he didn’t want to be arrested.

They encouraged him to get out of the water and he started swimming to the dock. Initially, the Wear “showed no signs of being in distress,” MCSO said. But as deputies tried to reach him by boat, they saw him go under the water.

The agency’s dive team, marine unit and drone team, as well as first responders from the East Manatee Fire Department, searched for him in the river.