SUV Plunges Off Howard Frankland; Divers Locate Driver

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The search for the driver of an SUV that plunged off the Howard Frankland Bridge following a crash Wednesday morning ended Thursday when divers located the body of Hiran Reis Vaz, 53, of Tampa, near the bridge shortly after noon.

Members of the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office, Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office, St. Petersburg Police Department, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and Coast Guard spent the morning searching for the missing driver after the submerged SUV was recovered but there was no one inside.

The accident occurred just after 7 a.m. during morning rush hour.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a white 2006 Saturn SUV was traveling south across the bridge in a reckless manner and at a high speed. The SUV began tailgating a Ford F150 pickup truck and then changed lanes to pass the truck. As it attempted to pass, it hit the front of a Ford F150 driven by Wilson Dennis Rowland, 30, of Tampa.

The F150 came to rest in a center lane of the bridge. Rowland was not seriously injured. The SUV rotated after the impact, overturned multiple times, crash into the center concrete wall and then the outside concrete barrier and flipped over the barrier, plunging into Tampa Bay.

Any witnesses to this accident are asked to contact the FHP by calling 813-558-1800 or *FHP (*347).