MIAMI – A body that was found Wednesday morning in a Miami lagoon where a man disappeared after falling off his personal watercraft has been identified.
The body of a man was found floating in the Blue Lagoon, right next to Miami International Airport, just after 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Carol Lyn Parrish later confirmed that the body was that of Manuel Aponte.
Miami Department of Fire-Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said the 32-year-old man was riding a WaveRunner in the lagoon Monday near Northwest Seventh Street and Blue Lagoon Drive when he went airborne and disappeared in the water, never resurfacing.
Family and friends said Aponte is a husband and father to a 1-year-old son.
Rick Rojo, who witnessed the incident, said the man was going "pretty fast" when he was thrown from the WaveRunner.
Authorities spent much of Monday and Tuesday searching for Aponte by helicopter and boat. They previously found the WaveRunner and a life jacket that Aponte was believed to have been wearing.