Monroe County needs your help locating families of six dead men

Authorities have yet to identify four white men who died during Hurricane Irma

MIAMI – Nine days after Hurricane Irma, Monroe County authorities reported deputies had yet to find the families of six men who were found dead after the storm.

They had not been able to identify four and had not been able to contact the relatives of a 66-year-old man and a 68-year-old man who were identified. 

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Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy Becky Herrin said detectives were searching for the families of David Speraw and Robert Owen Wheeler, Jr.

"We are hoping by releasing his name someone will be able to give us information which might lead to his next of kin," Herrin said in a statement. 

Speraw lived in Tavernier and died after he was released from the hospital. Owen died while in shelter at Marathon High School during the storm. Herrin said they believe both men died of chronic medical conditions. 

Deputies said the four unidentified white men were "possibly" in their 60s and had gray hair and a beard. One was found in Stock Island, the other in Big Pine Key and another in Marathon. Authorities said the fourth man died at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. 

The others reported storm-related deaths were Roy Vincent Pardee, 60, James Armantrout and Marcia Angelena Rodriguez. Pardee died in a car crash during the evacuation. Armount was found dead in Shark Key and Rodriguez in Marathon. 

Herrin was asking anyone with information to send an email to jnorman@keysso.net or call 469-610-7017. 

 


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.