He Took His Boat Out And Was Found Dead With An Anchor Wrapped Around His Body And A Bullet Wound To His Head, But His Death Wasn’t Immediately Ruled A Homicide
By 2013, Patrick Lee Mullins of Manatee County, Florida, was 52-years-old, happily married to his educator wife, Jill, for nearly 30 years, had two sons, and led a long career as a beloved librarian at Palmetto High School.
He was even looking forward to retiring soon and using his retirement package to fund a boat motor repair shop with his brother, Bert.
Patrick was a skilled mechanic and a lover of fishing and boating, and he enjoyed collecting and restoring Evinrude boat motors.
So, when he was found dead in Manatee River with a bullet wound to his head and an anchor wrapped around his body on February 5, 2013, his family suspected foul play despite authorities thinking otherwise.
It all began sometime between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. on January 27, 2013, when Patrick, known as a sensible family man with a dry sense of humor, took his 16-foot “Stumpknocker” skiff out on Braden River, an offshoot of the larger Manatee River, to test a rehabbed engine.
His home was along the Braden River, meaning he would’ve launched his boat about 300 yards west of his residence. Patrick also reportedly let his wife, Jill, know of his plan to go out on the water.
That’s why, when she returned later from a family obligation in Sarasota, she didn’t find it strange that Patrick wasn’t home. It wasn’t until hours passed by, and he still never returned, that Jill began to panic.
She called their son, Miles, a civil engineering student at the University of South Florida, who traveled home and started looking for Patrick in the streets and waterways. Jill contacted the police as well, reporting that her husband was missing.
The following day, authorities from multiple agencies, including the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Manatee County Marine Patrol, the Coast Guard, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, became involved.
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Patrick’s boat was found that day close to Egmont Key by an individual from the Tampa Bay Pilots Association. The discovery was reported to St. Petersburg station at 10:00 a.m., and the boat was confirmed to be Patrick’s. Its engine had been left running, and Patrick’s belongings and a gas can were inside.
The boat was a two to three-hour trip away from where Patrick would’ve launched on the river, which was puzzling, as he wouldn’t have gone on such a long journey to simply test an engine.
This led his family and investigators to believe an incident unfolded closer to home in either the Braden or Manatee Rivers. Then, his boat drifted away.
Authorities proceeded to search the region where Patrick’s boat was located for almost 70 hours. Yet, after scouring over 2,200 square miles, no sign of him was found, and the search was called off on the evening of January 29.
It took seven days for Patrick’s remains to be discovered by a charter boat fisherman off Emerson Point. At first, the fisherman thought he’d spotted a mannequin underwater close to a seagrass bed. Instead, it was Patrick’s body.
He’d sustained a shotgun wound to the head, which was later determined to be his cause of death, and had a 25-pound anchor tied to his body.
According to Dr. Wilson Broussard with the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office, there were multiple exit wounds on the top of Patrick’s head from the gunshot. An autopsy confirmed this initial report, but his manner of death was “inconclusive.”
Officials with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office claimed Patrick had taken his own life. However, the theory lacked plausibility for various reasons.
Primarily, Patrick did not own a shotgun, didn’t leave behind a note, and had no history of mental health struggles, substance abuse, or financial issues. Additionally, no blood or other bodily fluids were found on his boat.
Investigators suggested Patrick had first wrapped himself in the anchor’s rope before standing at the edge of the boat, angling a shotgun upward, and shooting himself in the jaw.
Dr. Russell Vega, the Chief Medical Examiner, also told Patrick’s family that the shotgun had been fired below his right earlobe, a type of self-inflicted wound he’d never seen before.
Nonetheless, Dr. Vega agreed with the suicide theory mainly because Patrick’s lifestyle seemed so inconsistent with becoming a victim of murder.
His family, on the other hand, believes Patrick might’ve gotten mixed up in a fatal situation on the water that day. He was known to be someone who would always help others.
It’s theorized that perhaps Patrick had stopped to lend a hand to an armed and dangerous individual or seen something he wasn’t supposed to, like drug smuggling.
Patrick’s wife, Jill, has been vocal about her discontent with the investigation on multiple fronts. First, the lead detective, one of her former students, had never actually conducted a death investigation before Patrick’s case.
Secondly, Jill also felt the police had mishandled video footage obtained from under a CSX Railway bridge.
Additionally, she’s expressed her frustration over how authorities hesitated to investigate Patrick’s death and criticized them for underutilizing resources.
A second opinion on Patrick’s gunshot wound was sought by the Medical Examiner’s Office since there appeared to be multiple exit wounds, and it was concluded that only one blast had been shot. So, Patrick’s cause of death remained “undetermined.”
Jill wound up hiring an attorney in October 2013 to challenge these findings. This legal move prompted the police to offer a $10,000 reward for information in the case, which later rose to $21,000 after Patrick’s family raised $10,000 at a fundraiser, and Crime Stoppers contributed $1,000.
To this day, exactly what happened to Patrick on the river remains a mystery, but Jill has refused to give up the search for answers. She’s since entered a new relationship yet is still dedicated to getting justice for her late husband.
In 2020, she put up posters and signs at the annual Manatee County Fair. Plus, that same year, she and her attorney were reportedly able to get the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to classify Patrick’s case as a homicide.
Nonetheless, there have been no further tips in the investigation. A Facebook page entitled “Pat Mullins – Unsolved” has been created to continue raising awareness about his case.
“If we can keep this in the public’s eye, then someone will hear something, and hopefully, we will get an answer,” Jill said.
Anyone with information regarding Patrick’s case is urged to contact the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at (941) 747-3011.
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