Second body recovered after stolen car crashed into St. Lucie River

MARTIN COUNTY − A second body was recovered Wednesday in the water after a stolen vehicle crashed a day earlier into the St. Lucie River near Southwest Kanner Highway and Southeast Cove Road, Sheriff William Snyder said.

Sheriff's officials about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday located the second body, which is likely linked to the stolen Mazda out of Boynton Beach from which the body of Marcus Griffin, 17, of Lake Worth, was recovered early Tuesday, officials said.

Snyder said sheriff's officials would continue to search the waterway, just east of Interstate 95 and near Hosford Park.

Snyder said the case began at 12:39 a.m. Tuesday when his agency learned of a stolen vehicle on High Meadows Avenue in Palm City. He said supervisors notified road deputies to not turn on their emergency lights. He said they knew a helicopter was available, and they have a different pursuing methodology.

The helicopter, he said, picked up the fast-moving sedan at 12:42 a.m. on State Road 714, which becomes Indian Street. The vehicle wound up heading west on Southeast Cove Road and careening across Southwest Kanner Highway and into the St. Lucie River. Snyder has said the vehicle traveled 11 miles in 6 minutes.

A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, both of Boynton Beach, were taken into custody.

Snyder, speaking Wednesday at Hosford Park, said while officials are not certain the body recovered that morning came from the stolen car "the overwhelming likelihood, almost with some reasonable certainty, is that we have recovered the body from that incident.”

Investigators recovered five pairs of slip-on shoes, and four people apparently are accounted for, he said. One of the occupants said five people were in the car.

"So we could be looking for a third body. Or we could have had somebody that got out of the water and escaped," Snyder said. "Or in fact, there were only four people in the car ... We're working with criminals and their accuracy, and their willingness to tell the truth is always in question.”

Snyder on Tuesday said one of the two taken into custody after the crash was wearing a ski mask.

He said the 16-year-old and the 18-year-old were released.

“The state attorney is now working with our detectives for the most accurate charges,” he said.

Assistant State Attorney David Lustgarten said he and others from his office were at the scene at 3 a.m. or 3:30 a.m. and had lengthy discussions with sheriff's investigators.

Lustgarten said they don't want to rush to make an arrest.

"We want the Sheriff's Office, as they always do, to conduct a complete and thorough investigation prior to any arrests being made,” he said.

It's important before bringing charges to determine who was driving and also to determine whether those inside knew the vehicle was stolen, Lustgarten said. The driver, he said, could be held criminally responsible for the deaths.

“Assuming that we know who the driver is, and assuming that the driver survived, then the driver can be held accountable for any of the unfortunate fatalities that occurred," Lustgarten said. "As far as what specific charges, that remains to be seen. There are a number of charges that we would be able to look at, depending on where the evidence leads.”

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Second body found after reckless vehicle crash into St. Lucie River