The body of a man who jumped off the Eastpoint fishing pier Friday was found by Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies.
“The latest drowning victim has been recovered on St. Vincent Island,” Franklin Sheriff A.J. Smith said in a Facebook Live update Sunday.
The search for the unidentified man began Friday when, around 6 p.m., he and another likely intoxicated man jumped off the fishing pier on the north side of the Apalachicola Bay in Eastpoint and began drifting, Smith said.
One FCSO lieutenant threw a life preserver in the water and was able to save one man.
Other search:Search continues on St. George Island for missing FSU grad who was scattering dog’s ashes
“The second guy had already gone under before (deputies) arrived on scene,” Smith said in a Facebook Live.
Within hours boats from the Sheriff’s Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Coast Guard began searching for the man’s body.
“They were drinking heavily and decided to jump in the bay,” Smith said. “I don’t know why.”
Smith added that the one man whose body was recovered Sunday “couldn’t swim.”
Back at the pier, a “group of males” were arrested on charges of “disorderly conduct,” according to the sheriff.
The relationship between these men and the two who jumped off the pier remains unclear.
The search continues for Staci Peterson, a 33-year-old Florida State University graduate who was last seen at St. George Island State Park a little over a week ago.
“Keep all these families of folks that lost their lives on the water in your thoughts and prayers,” Smith said. “It’s been a week for searches.”
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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