Tampa police investigate body parts found in bay, ask for help ID’ing victim by leg tattoo
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — For the second day in a row, police in Tampa were called to investigate reports of body parts being found.
A spokesperson for the Tampa Police Department confirmed “additional body parts” were found at McKay Bay, near the 22nd Street Causeway Bridge, just before noon on Friday. Witnesses at the scene told NewsNation affiliate WFLA the new body part appears to be another leg.
Police were first called to the same area of McKay Bay Thursday night when fishermen reported finding what appeared to be a human leg floating in the water. Tampa police later confirmed the body part belonged to a human and launched a death investigation.
On Friday afternoon, police said they had not yet identified the victim. They did, however, discover a tattoo “just beneath the lower right calf” on one leg. The tattoo shows three red hearts with the names Sean, Greg and Zach inside each of them.
On Friday morning, Stuart Welch called police when he discovered what he believed to be another part of a human body that he discovered in the same area where the first body part was found.
“I saw what looked like a lump of dead fish at first, but as it floated closer to me, it started to resolve into what looks like the lower half of a human leg,” said Welch.
Police quickly arrived and recovered the object from the water but would not confirm if it was also part of a human body.
“I’m very confident about that. It was no more than about 15 feet into the water when I saw it,” said Welch, who says he’s now very concerned because he fishes in the area often.
“It doesn’t surprise me that some monster dumped a human body out here, probably cut ’em up and dumped the parts wherever they could,” said Welch.
Tampa police say they are now actively searching the area for other body parts. Acting Police Chief Ruben Delgado says they are using drones and watercraft to search the area.
Delgado would not confirm if the objects found today are human remains but says his agency is working with the medical examiner’s office to confirm the information on the case.
“I mean, anything we can learn, anything we can get. We’ve got to remember, that’s somebody’s loved one. That’s somebody’s family member. That’s somebody that we are trying to figure out exactly what happened,” said Delgado.
Anyone with information on the person’s identity is asked to call Tampa police at 813-231-6130 or contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS.