INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man whose body was discovered Monday afternoon along the shoreline near the Sebastian River Bridge as James Thompson, 44, who had been staying at the Sebastian Sands Motel just south of the scene.
Two fishermen found Thompson face down on the southwest corner of the bridge near U.S. 1 around 2 p.m. July 6. They called 911 and described a white male who appeared to have been there for some time. Deputies responded, confirmed he was deceased and used a rapid ID fingerprint scanner at the scene to make a preliminary identification.
Thompson had previous addresses in Palm Bay and had been reported missing for about two days. Detectives contacted Palm Bay police after the discovery. His mother in Micco had been calling to report him missing; no formal missing-person report was generated once family members were notified of the death.
The case is being investigated as a suspicious death while detectives work to determine how Thompson ended up in the water and what caused his death. An autopsy was completed July 7, with toxicology results still pending. Deputies noted bruising around one of his eyes and are trying to determine how it occurred.
Lt. Kevin Jaworski, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said investigators treat deaths this way out of caution when the circumstances aren’t immediately clear. “Any time we can’t immediately determine how someone came to be in a location or what led to their death, we treat it as suspicious out of an abundance of caution while detectives work to establish the facts,” Jaworski said. He confirmed the rapid ID scanner was used on scene and that detectives are looking into the bruising.
The body was taken to the medical examiner’s office. The investigation remains active.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office at 772-569-6700 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted anonymously at tcwatch.org and may qualify for a cash reward.
