St. James City death ruled accidental
During the early afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 26, Lee County Sheriff’s deputies were summoned to Bob and Annie’s Boat Yard to investigate a report of a man who had fallen off a boat and ended up in the canal behind the St. James City business. The victim, Steven R. Meyn, 53, of St. James City was found floating in the canal and when EMT arrived he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers met property owner Chris Conover who stated that he had last seen Meyn when he (the victim) pulled into the marina and was working on his boat at approximately 11:30 a.m. At that time Meyn was accompanied by Gregory Corriveau, 44, also of St. James City. According to a statement given to the deputies by Conover, he and Corriveau had left Meyn to do some work at his home. Later Conover and Corriveau returned to the boat yard at about 12:30 p.m. when they noticed that Meyn was not working on his boat. Both Conover and Corriveau had assumed that Meyn had gone to lunch, when Conover noticed that the mast of Meyn’s boat was laying down across the boat along with a crane.
According to Conover’s statement the mast and the crane were upright when he had left earlier. Conover then approached the victim’s boat but saw no sign of Meyn. He began looking for the victim and noticed blood on the boat and Meyn was nowhere in sight. As Conover continued to search, he discovered Meyn floating in the canal between the boat and the dock. He immediately call 911.
EMS arrived at the scene and pulled Meyn closer to shore to administer medical aid. After examining Meyn, a responding medic pronounced Meyn dead at the scene.
The incident has been determined to be an accidental death.