Dad dies, son hurt when ‘motorized canoe’ tosses them and takes off, Florida cops say

The foreboding sight of an empty boat circling a Florida bay led authorities to discover a teenager and his father had been thrown into the water and left behind, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

The father died and the teen was found injured and clinging to a floating marker, officials said in a news release.

It happened Saturday, July 1, on “Chassahowitzka Bay near the Hernando/Citrus county line,” the sheriff’s office said. The bay is on Florida’s Gulf Coast, about 70 miles north of Tampa.

“The incident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. as boaters noticed an unmanned motorized canoe circling in the bay,” the sheriff’s office reported in a Facebook post.

“The boaters quickly located a 17-year-old male clinging to a floating marker. The teen advised he and his father fell out of the canoe. Boaters were unable to locate the teen’s father.”

Hernando and Citrus county search crews used boats, helicopters and a dive team to find and recover the man’s body later in the day, officials said. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also assisted.

Identities of the father and son have not been released.

The teenager was taken “to a local hospital where he is currently recovering,” officials said. Details of his injuries were not revealed.

Chassahowitzka Bay is adjacent to a large block of public lands that protects the Chassahowitzka Swamp ecosystem. The “vast expanse of salt marsh, hardwood swamps, crystal-clear springs and river are a canoeist’s paradise,” the Southwest Florida Water Management District reports.

This story was originally published July 3, 2023 at 7:24 AM with the headline "Dad dies, son hurt when ‘motorized canoe’ tosses them and takes off, Florida cops say."