TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say they’ve recovered a man’s body near a Florida bridge a day after an SUV crashed and plunged into the water.
A Florida Highway Patrol news release says the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office marine unit located the remains Thursday near the Howard Frankland Bridge, which spans Tampa Bay and connects St. Petersburg and Tampa. The man was later identified as 53-year-old Hiran Reis Vaz.
Troopers say the SUV was heading south on the bridge “at a high rate of speed” Wednesday morning when it hit a pickup truck, flipped several times and rolled into the water.
FHP say the pickup truck spun around and hit the center wall, but the driver wasn’t injured.
The SUV was recovered Wednesday, but no occupants were inside the vehicle.
The crash caused a huge rush hour traffic snarl.
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