Only minutes after the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office created a social media post Tuesday for 24-year-old John Kim, something was spotted in the Portofino Shores neighborhood, where Kim lived with his aunt and uncle.
“It was discovered there was a body found floating in the lake," said St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara.
Soon police tape surrounded the water.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the body had been officially identified as Kim.
He was last seen about 1 a.m. Monday morning by a security guard getting out of a cab and running into the neighborhood.
A missing person report was filed in the afternoon.
All night Monday into Tuesday, friends and family members searched the entire community, even on horseback.
"He would always call his family and say he would be late, he wouldn’t be on time. He would always check in," said Indian River County School Board member Laura Zorc.
Kim was supposed to start a new job Monday. His family owned a produce stand and Kim had been very active in local politics, losing a race for the Indian River County School Board last year.
“He was an intern with Congressman Posey, he was an intern with Indian River County, he was a volunteer to maintain campaign efforts, nonprofits," said Indian River County Commissioner Tim Zorc.
Sheriff Ken Mascara will work with his counterpart in Indian River County to put all the pieces together, but at this point, it doesn’t appear there was any foul play.
“As we see it ... no. We don’t see anything alarming right now," said the sheriff.
.@stluciesheriff dive team recovering body found in SLC pond. Likely former IRC school board candidate. pic.twitter.com/5YBhXSpYbq
— Jon Shainman (@JonShainman) September 19, 2017