In sad news for a Tampa family, the elderly man missing from a Tampa assisted-living facility (ALF) over the weekend has been confirmed by authorities as the body found in a pond near Fletcher and Armenia. Maynell Scott went missing over the weekend and the tragic news resulted in statements from the family and the facility, Belvedere Commons of Tampa.
Scott, 81, left Belvedere Commons of Tampa off Fletcher Avenue at about 7 p.m. Saturday. A silver alert went out across the Bay area as Scott suffered from dementia.
“We called to tell them we were on the way to visit him, that we were on the way,” recounted Scott’s daughter, Yvonne Willis. “They started crying and said, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t find him right now.'”
Scott’s body was found Tuesday night in a pond off Armenia near Fletcher, two miles away from where he went missing.
In a statement the family wrote;
“Our family has just received word that the body found yesterday evening is in fact our beloved Maynell Scott. Our family is heartbroken over this confirmation. We appreciate your continued prayers, support, and privacy as we mourn the loss of our loved one. Again, we would like to send our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in the search – Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, our family, friends, and the community who joined in our desperate efforts.”
Theresa Deibert, Regional Director of Belvedere Commons, released the following statement Wednesday:
“Everyone at Belvedere Commons of Tampa is deeply saddened and is mourning the loss of Mr. Maynell Scott. We want to express heartfelt sympathy to his entire family.
“Mr. Scott left Belvedere Commons of Tampa on Saturday, July 16th at approximately 7 p.m. EST. All exit doors in our community are alarmed; however, due to enforced fire code, all exits doors have a delayed egress function and are not locked from the inside. Onsite staff responded quickly to the alarm but did not see any person in the immediate vicinity. Our staff followed our Missing Resident Procedures.
“Police were notified immediately and arrived to the community shortly after the emergency call was placed. Police began their extensive search after arriving at our community.
“Again, we express our condolences to Mr. Scott’s family and ask that everyone be respectful of their privacy as they mourn the loss of their loved one and of our community for the loss of our Resident.”
