PALATKA, Fla. — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office are searching by land, sea and sky for Jeremiah Beck, the man Action News Jax first told you was reported missing Wednesday night in the St. Johns River by Palatka’s Memorial Bridge.
The FWC has been searching for Beck since he was reported missing by friends at around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
They told Putnam County deputies they’d seen him fall off his boat while trying to get to his kayak.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said in a post to Facebook that the kayak was found empty after less than two hours of the initial search
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The FWC has since searched for hours using Beck’s boat as a center point to try and find him, hopefully, nearby.
“We’re going to continue this as a search and rescue until proven otherwise. And we’re using all the assets at our disposal,” said Chad Weber, public information officer of FWC’s northeast division.
The FWC says it’s using drones, a helicopter, boats with sonar and a dive team to search underwater. They’re going up and down the river and beyond the bridge to see if he possibly swam to shore.
The agency tells Action News Jax it found Beck’s phone and personal belongings on the shore not long after starting the search last night.
“We’re going to try to rule out everything until we eventually locate this individual,” Weber said.
Beck’s family wished not to speak with Action News Jax while the search is still going on, but says they will be waiting alongside law enforcement until he is found.
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