One witness had speculated that John Miller could have been attacked by shark
The 46-year-old Sarasota man who died during a Sept. 21 incident off Beach Access 9 on Siesta Key was a victim of drowning, The Sarasota News Leaderhas learned from the autopsy released by the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office in Sarasota.
The note in the report regarding “Manner of Death” said that John A. Miller “succumbed while swimming” in the Gulf.
Regular readers may recall that witnesses speculated that Miller may have been attached by an aquatic species, as a Sarasota County deputy who reviewed Miller’s body at Sarasota Memorial Hospital had observed a large laceration near his left calf muscle, which was about 3 inches long. Miller also had “several small lacerations on his right leg near his calf muscle,” as Matthew Binkley, manager of the Sheriff’s Office’s Community Affairs Division, told the News Leader in early October.
In his Oct. 7 email, responding to a News Leader inquiry, Binkley did reference the report of the witness who told a deputy that she had observed Miller screaming for help and then begin ” ‘thrashing around in the water’ ” before he collapsed and became submerged. “The witness thought he was being attacked by a shark,” Binkley said. Yet, Binkley pointed out, “There is no evidence of such an attack.”
When the News Leader reported on the incident, it included information from the International Shark Attack File of the Florida Museum, showing that, since 1882, no unprovoked shark attacks had been confirmed in Sarasota County.
Another witness who spoke with a deputy on the Siesta beach reported that she had seen Miller on a sandbar in the Gulf, calling for help and waving his arms.
The autopsy found “[n]o evidence of acute injury or significant natural disease,” but the following evidence was “suggestive of drowning”:
- The body was found in a body of water.
- Miller’s lungs were filled with water.
- A “[s]mall amount of liquid” was found “within the sphenoid sinus.” The Cleveland Clinic explains that the sphenoid sinuses, which normally are filled with air, are located within the skull behind the upper part of the nasal cavity. “They contain cells that make mucus that drains into your nasal cavity.”
The autopsy did note evidence that CPR had been performed on Miller, as the body had “[m]ultiple rib and sternal fractures.”
A toxicology report attached to the autopsy showed that a comprehensive drug screening found no substances in the blood or urine.