Body of motorcyclist found in water after Cape Coral crash ID’d

Cape Coral Police Department found the body of a motorcyclist Wednesday who was involved in an overnight crash.

Police say Jeffrey Allen Kinkelaar crashed into a canal in the 1400 block of El Dorado Parkway but was not found until the next morning, police said.

The neighbors across the canal say they remember hearing a loud crash around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, but they couldn’t figure out where the sound came from.

Neighbors on the opposite side said they quickly realized what happened after seeing a large police presence and a reflector pole ripped out of the ground.

Marcus Messina says this isn’t the first time a life has been taken at a dead-end cul-de-sac near his home. He believes the lack of warning signs makes this road deadly for drivers.

“It’s a recipe for disaster,” he said.

There aren’t any dead-end signs on this street. Instead, three reflectors sit at the end of the road, and the light that could be illuminating them for drivers is blocked by a nearby tree.

“The amount of resources that it would take to solve the problem are far less than that they are spending right now digging bodies out of the canals,” Messina said.

Investigators have not yet confirmed the cause of the crash. Police say it’s too early to tell if the driver might have been impaired, but they did say he was found with his helmet on.

Neighbors say something needs to change or this is going to happen again.

“They really should do something about it,” said Mike Shephard. “They could do some strips on the road or extra signs or something.”

We reached out to the city to see what options the community has for requesting traffic control signs or devices. Cape Coral says requests can be sent to its 311 Call Center for evaluation.

“I hope that this accident here can actually call the attention to the authorities to do something,” said Maritza Shephard.

MORE: Cape Coral – 311 Call Center