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Search Underway For Skyway Jumper

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By CARLOS MONCADA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 29, 2007

The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that a 19-year-old man jumped off the Sunshine Skyway bridge early today.

The man, whose identity has not been released, jumped from the northbound lanes just south of the center shortly before 4 a.m., U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Case said. The bridge at that point is 65 to 75 feet high, Case said. The center span is about 197 feet high at its peak.

Case said the man was fishing with friends when he decided to go for a walk. When he did not return, his friends went searching for him in their car and saw him go over the rail, unsure whether he jumped or fell, Case said.

"At this point, we know he jumped,'' said Sondra-Kay Kneen, a Coast Guard spokesperson in St. Petersburg. She did not say how the Coast Guard knows that.

An extensive search for the man by boat and helicopter is continuing and involves agencies from the state and Hillsborough, Pinellas and Manatee counties, Kneen said. Hillsborough has jurisdiction over the Skyway section where the man jumped, she said.

The Skyway remains open while the search continues.

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