EAST LAKE — A 22-year-old Zephyrhills man who went missing Friday while test-driving a boat on Lake Tarpon was found dead Sunday morning after a multi-agency search, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.
David Christopher Wilson Jr., an employee of Boat and Motor Supercenters in Palm Harbor, left around 5:15 p.m. Friday aboard an 18-foot Carolina Skiff for a test drive after the vessel underwent engine repairs at the shop on U.S. Highway 19 North, detectives said.
He did not return. Around 6:15 p.m., deputies responded to Lansbrook Lakefront Park at 3600 Lakefront Drive after the unoccupied boat was found drifting near Juniper Bay on the East Lake side of Lake Tarpon.
Weekend search
Pinellas deputies launched marine and aerial searches Friday evening. Marine unit crews continued looking through the night before suspending operations around 11 p.m., then resumed Saturday with help from East Lake Fire Rescue, the Palm Harbor Fire Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, according to the sheriff’s office.
Searchers still had not located Wilson by Saturday night. Recovery efforts started again about 7 a.m. Sunday. Around 7:12 a.m., deputies found Wilson dead in the lake and recovered his body, PCSO said.
The sheriff’s office said the death appears accidental. Next of kin have been notified. The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause and manner of death, and the investigation remains open.
Why the timeline matters
Lake Tarpon is a large freshwater lake along the Pinellas–Hillsborough line that draws boaters from East Lake, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs and nearby Pasco communities. A worker taking a freshly repaired skiff out late on a Friday afternoon left a narrow window before dark for anyone who might have needed help — and left an empty boat as the first hard clue for deputies.
Local coverage from FOX 13 and WFLA tracked the search from Friday’s abandoned vessel through Sunday’s recovery, drawing on Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office updates.
Boaters who see an unoccupied vessel or someone in distress on Lake Tarpon are asked to call 911 and stay on scene if it is safe. PCSO has not released further details beyond the accidental finding pending the medical examiner’s report.