By Kameel Stanley and Lorri Helfand, Times Staff Writers
Sunday, September 19, 2010
TIERRA VERDE – The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office continued searching for a swimmer who went missing earlier this week off Fort De Soto Park.
The Sheriff's Office resumed its daily efforts, now considered a recovery mission, by deploying a boat to patrol the north beach area during the day shift. And it plans to send another unit at night, officials said.
Kevin A. Persad, 29, disappeared at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Coast Guard suspended its search for the St. Petersburg man later that night, but deputies have continued its search.
Persad had been in the water with two friends when he ran into trouble. Witnesses told authorities he was trying to swim to the southern tip of Shell Key through Bunces Pass, an east-west inlet with strong currents. A friend called 911 when he couldn't reach him.