Possible Drowning Investigated Near Marshall’s Landing: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — Deputies investigating a possible drowning are searching for a man who went underwater near Marshall’s Landing in Bradenton Friday morning, according to a news release from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

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

The man, who was in his late thirties, 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 man “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.

While deputies believe they know who the man is, they weren’t able to confirm his identity, the sheriff’s office said.

The agency also said that it “can’t rule out the possibility that the man resurfaced somewhere else along the river.”