Story by Thomas Fuller
After thirty years of marriage, Jill Mullins knew her husband Pat pretty well, and among many other things, she knew that he did not do fast food, well, with the exception of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Even then, if Jill wasn’t available to place the drive-through order, he never got it on his own. That’s why she was a bit puzzled when she found Burger King wrappers on her kitchen counter after returning home on that day from a visit with family. More troubling was the fact that Pat wasn’t home.
When she discovered that Pat’s small outboard boat was gone as well, she began to feel that sense of dread that we have all had at one time or another. It was sometime between 5 and 6pm, and although the day had been clear and beautiful, that last Sunday of January 2013 had given just about all the daylight it had to offer.
In short order, Pat’s youngest son and brother were combing the banks of the Braden River which was connected to a small canal that began behind the Mullins home and eventually emptied into the mighty Manatee River. Perhaps Pat had experienced motor problems, or some kind of accident and was stranded.
By eleven o’clock, Jill contacted the Sheriff’s department. The Coast Guard was called in as well, and both searched the dark waters of the rivers and tributaries throughout the night without results.
With the next days discovery of Pat’s small Stumpknocker flat bottom boat floating in the Gulf just west of Egmont Key, the mystery only deepened. The boat showed no signs of a struggle and contained a number of items, including Pat’s straw hat and a couple of water bottles. The outboard motor was in neutral and the gas tank empty.
But there was no Pat, who never would have ventured beyond the banks of the Braden River, let alone out into the open waters of the Gulf.
Eight agonizing days would pass until fishermen discovered Pat’s lifeless body floating in just several feet of water, firmly tied in an unusual manner to a boat anchor just off Emerson Point. He had sustained a shotgun wound to the head from one or perhaps two blasts.
Those who found Pat were surprised by the near pristine condition of the body and the almost total lack of predator activity, considering the nature of the massive wound that would have served as an irresistible invitation to the many sharks and other marine life abundant in these waters.
The medical examiner would later report that the condition of his body was consistent with one that had been in the water for the entire time that he was missing, just one of a number of glaring inconsistencies that would haunt this case.
