PALATKA, Fla. – As the search resumes Thursday morning for a kayaker missing in Putnam County, the missing man’s father has identified him as a 43-year-old father of three.
Russell Beck said his son, Jeremiah Beck, is the man who disappeared on the St. Johns River near Palatka on Wednesday evening.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said calls were received around 5:30 p.m. about a man who may have fallen out of his kayak on the St. Johns River near the Memorial Bridge, which connects Palatka’s Historic District to East Palatka.
A yellow kayak was found, but the Sheriff’s Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are still searching for Jeremiah Beck. There have been no reported sightings of him.
Russell Beck said the kayak belongs to him, and he has been letting his son use it. He said Jeremiah has been living on a boat docked in the St. Johns River at Memorial Bridge for a few months.
Russell Beck said his son can swim, but he’s worried about what witnesses said happened.
“I found out that he got on the boat, but he jumped in the water to get the kayak, and that’s the last time they saw him,” an emotionally pained Russell Beck said. “I’ve tried to tell him to be careful, you know.”
Russell said he learned his son fell into the water from the kayak but managed to swim back to the boat he was living on. But then he tried to swim back to get the kayak because it was drifting further away, and that’s when he disappeared.
The FWC is leading the search to find Jeremiah and Northeast Florida Region Public Information Officer Chad Weber said the agency wants to be transparent with his family.
“I cannot begin to know what they are going through. The human part of it, you have to humanize this; they are going through a lot right now. They have a loved one who is missing,” Weber said. “We are the people who are looking for him. I find being very transparent and letting the family know what we are doing and just keeping them up-to-date with what the search looks like.”
Weber said the river’s current can make the search difficult, and they are currently using drone pilots, dive teams, officers and deputies on boats, a helicopter and Sonar.
A man who said he’s known Jeremiah Beck for about a month and described him as a friend said he was with Beck around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, just an hour before he was reported missing.
“I just finished talking to him, and, all of a sudden, this happens,” said the friend, who asked not to be identified.
The friend said that whenever Jeremiah comes to shore, the two hang out together in a park. He said he last saw Beck going to his boat on Wednesday.
“He’s a great person to be with, real friendly, real kind,” the friend said. “Losing him like this is unbelievable.”
The search on the river was suspended around 9 p.m. Wednesday and resumed at first light Thursday.
But FWC did have an officer flying a drone overnight over the river near Riverfront Park, continuing to look for Jeremiah Beck.
