Staff report

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office have ID’d the man whose body washed ashore on McFaddin Beach around 8 a.m. Sunday.

Two people walking along the beach found the body, which had apparently washed ashore, about 12 miles south of the entrance to McFaddin Wildlife Refuge. Justice of the Peace Thomas Gilliam ordered an autopsy.

The missing man was identified as 56-year-old Stuart Gay of Port Neches. This case remained under investigation late Sunday.

In an issued statement, the Sheriff’s Office said Gay was believed to be the man who went missing Saturday. A game warden called deputies around 3:45 p.m. Saturday after encountering what he said was a suspicious male on McFaddin Beach.

The game warden told deputies when he encountered the man, he fled in his truck. When the game warden later located the vehicle and approached it, the man fled into the water.

The sheriff’s statement said the man was last seen about 200 yards from shore, in the surf. The Sheriff’s Office helicopter and marine unit attempted unsuccessfully to find the man, but had to call off the search after darkness.

The identification of the recovered body was not released until the formal identification was made at the morgue, the sheriff’s office said.