Search on for possible drowning victim in Braden River after deputies spot man go under
A search is underway for a man last seen in the Braden River after residents in a Bradenton subdivision reported him trespassing.
At 8:15 a.m. Friday, deputies were called to the 5500 block of Whitehead Street to reports of a man screaming, wading around and pushing on the mangroves, spokesman Randy Warren said.
Deputies were called out a second time and were only then able to spot the man from the other side of the river, in the 5400 Block of 56th Court East, just inside the Rivers Edge At Marshall’s Landing subdivision and off State Road 70 East.
The man — who deputies are familiar with because of his criminal history — was standing in waist-high water in the middle of the river. The sheriff’s office has not identified him.
“He was not in distress. He was talking to deputies. He identified himself,” Warren said.
The man repeatedly told deputies that he didn’t want to go to jail.
“Deputies kept encouraging him, ‘Just don’t worry about that. Get over here. Let’s get you some water. Let’s get you out of the water,’” Warren said. “There are gators in here, and it’s just not safe for him to be in this water without any flotation device.”
Deputies began taking off their equipment preparing to go into the water if necessary and calling over their radios that they needed a boat.
Meanwhile, the man made a comment about the current, called for “help” and then disappeared underwater.
“Deputies immediately began to look along the shore to see if he swam under and resurfaced somewhere else,” Warren said. “At this point, we do not know whether he went under and didn’t come up or whether he swam away.”
At about noon, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office dive team began searching the water for the man’s body.
An alligator had been spotted by residents nearby in the river earlier in the morning. As part of the dive team’s protocol, a deputy armed with a rifle stands watch to scare away or shoot if necessary any gators spotted approaching the deputies in the water.
A drone team was also being used to search the river for any sign of the man.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Search on for possible drowning victim in Braden River after deputies spot man go under."
