As the baseball world continues to mourn the sudden and tragic death of Marlins pitching prodigy Jose Fernandez, authorities in Miami are trying to piece together just what led to the deadly boat crash Sunday morning. During that process, an eerie bit of evidence literally washed ashore.
WSN-TV in Miami reports a bag containing Fernandez’s checkbook and four baseballs with his autograph on them were discovered on a beach near the crash site on Sunday afternoon. Ocean Rescue Division Chief Vincent Canosa told the station that a beachgoer found the black bag (which is believed to have come from Fernandez’s boat) “20 blocks North of the crash site” and handed it over to a lifeguard on duty.
The bag is just the latest bit of evidence from the accident to be made public in the days since Fernandez’s death. It was revealed Monday that the 24-year-old pitcher was a guest at a local bar just 90 minutes before the crash along with 25-year-old Eduardo Rivero and 26-year-old Emilio Macias, who also died in the accident. It has not been confirmed whether Fernandez drank at the bar, only that he was a guest.
Autopsies on all three victims by the medical examiner’s findings will not be released until toxicology reports are concluded.
