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Beach Rescue Video Bolsters Hunt for Vero Beach Double-Murder Suspect

Police say a video of a bystander pulling a swimmer from Riomar Beach backs a key lead in the search.

Overview

  • Newly released police video shows Belinda helping a man at Riomar Beach, and she says she coached him to float on his back as he said he was exhausted.
  • Rescue crews also reached a man about 900 yards offshore that day who gave a false name, which detectives later said may have been Jesse Scott Ellis.
  • The killings occurred March 24 at the Indian River County Main Library lot in what police called a crime of passion involving his estranged wife, Stacie Ellis Mason, and colleague Danny Ooley.
  • Investigators found Ellis’s truck at South Beach Park with wet clothing, an empty holster, a .380-caliber magazine, and notes that pointed to self-harm.
  • Ellis, 64, remains wanted on two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, and police urge anyone with information to call 911 and not approach him.