Belinda, who did not want to disclose her second name, recounted how she encountered the man struggling in the sea while on a stroll of a Florida beach. She sprang into action to save the man
A woman holidaying in Florida bravely plunged into the sea to rescue a struggling swimmer, only to discover the man was sought for allegedly murdering his wife and her estranged lover. The woman, known only as Belinda, spotted a man crying out for help while she was strolling near Riomar Beach on the morning of 24 March.
She immediately dashed into the sea and advised the man to lie on his back and let the waves bring him back to shore. She recounted to a local media outlet that he complained of fatigue throughout the ordeal.
“So, he got on his back, and he said, ‘I’m exhausted, I’m tired,’ and I said, ‘Do it! Get on your back and let the waves carry you, you can do it, come on’,” she explained. However, the man informed Belinda he was “going to take a long vacation,” reports the Mirror US.
Belinda leapt into action, ensuring the man reached the shore safely. Police footage of the incident shows her crouching down next to the man after he emerged from the water.
The man was later identified as double-murder suspect Jesse Scott Ellis, 64, who is accused of shooting his wife of 13 years, Stacie Ellis Mason, and her married workmate, Danny Ooley, in the car park of the Indian River County Main Library in Vero Beach at around 7am that same day.
Mason and Ooley, 56, are thought to have been conducting an affair, officials from the Vero Beach Police Department revealed during a press briefing. CCTV footage captures the duo, both workers for the Indian River County government, reaching the library in different cars before Mason stepped out of her vehicle and got into Ooley’s.
Moments afterwards, Ellis drove into the car park carrying an AR-15-style weapon and unleashed several rounds at Ooley’s car, Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey informed journalists. Ellis subsequently escaped.
Soon after, a man was seen entering the water fully dressed, but when emergency services reached the scene, they established the individual didn’t require help after he provided what they later discovered was a false identity, Currey explained.
A search of Ellis’ lorry revealed damp clothes, an empty gun holder and a .380-calibre magazine. The vehicle was found at South Beach Park.
Multiple documents were also discovered that indicated he planned to take his own life, police stated. Some of those papers were “pages long, dating back to early March,” which detailed “his pain, wanting to crawl in a hole.” He penned that he was unable to eat, drink or sleep.
By Monday evening, the alleged murderer remained at large, and locals were advised to expect a heightened police presence in the vicinity during the hunt for Ellis. After Belinda rescued Ellis and subsequently discovered he was a murder suspect, she stated she still would have saved him, but would have dialled 999 immediately had she been aware of his alleged crime.
“I could not leave him in the water, no matter what,” Belinda declared. “Everybody is going through something.”
What transpired with Ellis after that remains a mystery. However, if he’s found alive, he’s wanted for two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, a capital felony that could see him facing the death penalty if convicted.