FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Human remains found Friday on a sailboat in Ft. Myers Beach have been identified as a man who had been missing since Hurricane Ian made landfall in that region, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a tweet.
James Denny Hurst's body was located by the Lee County Sheriff's Office Dive Team on his sunken "Good Girl" sailboat behind Salty Sams in Matanzas Pass, authorities say.
Law enforcement says Hurst was last known to have been on the sailboat throughout the storm. When his remains were found, the medical examiner's office worked to confirm his identification.
"Mr. Hurst’s family has been notified," Marceno wrote in the tweet. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
Before the confirmation of Hurst's identity, authorities said 130 people across Florida died due to the impacts related to Hurricane Ian. In Lee County, the number of reported deaths was 61, which is primarily where the storm made landfall in September.