Body found at Matheson Hammock Park

Discovery made during search for missing Jacksonville woman

MIAMI ā€“ A body found at Matheson Hammock Park could be that of a missing Jacksonville woman who disappeared from a boat in Biscayne Bay.

Miami-Dade police Detective Daniel Ferrin said the body was discovered floating in the water near Matheson Hammock Park about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Ferrin said the discovery was made by the U.S. Coast Guard while continuing its search for Lauren Lamar, who was last seen Sunday night.Ā 

Lamar was reported missing by two friends after the boat on which they were traveling returned from Stiltsville, a cluster of homes on pilings in Biscayne Bay, to Matheson Hammock Park about 10 p.m. Sunday.

"When they arrived at Matheson Hammock, the two people on board the vessel realized that they were missing one person," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Jorge Pino said. "How that happened, we don't know."

Pino said the friends, identified by police as Russell Bruce, 45, and Alicia Bartolota, 28, claimed they thought she was sleeping below deck.

"I don't know if I've ever heard of someone falling off the boat, especially when there's only three people on board, and the two people that are left on board not realize that that happened," Pino said.

The body was found floating face-down in the water.

Ferrin said the body was taken to the medical examiner's office, where positive identification will be made.

"We know that we are missing a black female and we have located a black female," Ferrin said.

Bruce and Bartolota were questioned by detectives Monday but have since been released, Ferrin said.

The search, which Ferrin said spanned more than 100 square miles and 35 hours, has been suspended.

Lamar recently moved from Jacksonville to Miami, where she was a promotional and sales representative for World Crawl Miami.

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