Skyway jumper identified as Lakeland man

The man who jumped to his death off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Monday afternoon has been identified as a Lakeland man.

Robert Laird, 39, jumped off the bridge and police found a body in the truck of his vehicle.

According to Jack Gillen, spokesman for the Lakeland Police Department, could only release a few details about the incident. The identity of the charred body found in the truck has not yet been released, Gillen said.

“Our detectives are at the autopsy right now,” Gillen said this afternoon.

Laird was seen jumping from the bridge shortly after the vehicle fire was reported.

The St. Petersburg Fire Rescue received a call about the burning vehicle at about 3:12 p.m. Monday and were on the scene within 15 minutes, said Lt. Joel Granata, spokesman for the fire department.

“The blaze was from the front to the rear of the vehicle,” Granata said. “We extinguished the fire and while going over the vehicle the firefighters found the body in the trunk.”

He said while the fire units were at the scene, the station received the call about the man jumping from the bridge.

“Some fishermen picked the man from the water and we instructed them on CPR over the radio,” Granata said. “The department’s Marine Rescue Unit met the fishermen and the man was transferred to our boat.”

The fire department paramedics continued CPR, but by the time they reached O’Neal’s Marina in St. Petersburg, the man was pronounced dead. Skyway Bridge personnel observed the man on security video cameras leave the burning vehicle and the jumping from the bridge.

Traffic on the southbound lanes of the Skyway was tied up for hours while investigators from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office gathered evidence.

The vehicle was towed off the bridge after 9 p.m. Monday where the medical examiner removed the body from the trunk.