Body of man found off Naples coast identified after 19 years

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office has identified the remains of a man whose body was found floating in the Gulf of Mexico in 2002.

The sheriff’s office says the remains belong to Edward Lorenz Richard, 49, of Spencer, Massachusetts.

Richard was found floating 1.5 miles north of Doctors Pass in Naples on May 3, 2002, after deputies responded to reports of a body floating in the water. A medical examiner was unable to determine the cause of death.

When deputies found Richard, they say he had no identification on his person. That began the nearly 20-year investigation that led to deputies finally identifying the body as Richard.

Deputies took fingerprints from Richard’s body and entered them into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement database and the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System on several occasions in an attempt to identify Richard. Richard’s DNA, dental information and a composite sketch of what he may have looked like was also uploaded to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

On Nov. 23, deputies finally got a match. Richard’s fingerprints had been placed into his military personnel file. That allowed the FBI to enter that information into their system, which resulted in a match between the fingerprints uploaded by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and those from Richard’s personnel file.

Deputies were able to locate Richard’s brother thanks to the match and let the family know what happened.

Richard’s family said that he had left on a bus to Florida 20 years prior to his disappearance in 2002 and left all of his identification behind. His family says they never heard from him again after that.

Now, Richard’s brother is speaking to WINK News about what this identification means for his family. Paul Richard is Edward’s brother. “It’s always been in the back of my mind, will he walk up the driveway one day,” said Paul.

Almost two decades ago, Edward left for Florida. He also left his brother wondering what could’ve happened to him. “I was concerned that he might have ended it, or his life might not be there anymore,” Paul said.

The family says Edward was fighting an alcohol addiction. However, he often found serenity near water. “My brother and I grew up on [the] lake up here in Massachusetts. And so his happy place was fishing and swimming and doing all kinds of that,” said Paul.

Now, Paul is happy to know what happened to Edward and where he went after wondering for 19 years.

Deputies were able to find a fingerprint match for Edward from his enlistment in the military in the 70s. “I was amazed. I… you know, frankly, I mean, getting the call before the day before Thanksgiving, and the day after my birthday was, you know, odd and… and I knew right away what the call was about,” Paul said.

Now, the next call the Richard family hopes for is to bring home what they can of him.