The body of Perico resident and Island Grill owner Scott St. Blanc, 61, was found by a morning walker July 2 at Perico Preserve, 11700 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
The Bradenton Police Department and emergency medical services responded to a 911 call from a woman, reporting her observation at a pavilion near the entry to the preserve — saying she saw a man who was deceased.
He was identified as St. Blanc by police, but they found no suicide note or signs of trauma and noted the scene did “not appear to be suspicious.”
EMS workers pronounced St. Blanc deceased at 7:45 a.m.
Police found no security cameras and no witnesses, saying the death had occurred much earlier.
However, two BPD officers noted in their reports that they were familiar with St. Blanc.
Officer Andres Perez wrote in a supplemental report that he “immediately recognized (St. Blanc) … who I met yesterday during a search warrant.”
Officer Jay Gow wrote in his report that “after viewing the subject on scene, it was confirmed that it was indeed Mr. St. Blanc due to working a case with him on 07-01-2021.”
A BPD incident/investigation report obtained by The Islander provided some detail into the search warrant served July 1 at St. Blanc’s residence at Perico Apartments, 10955 Bristol Bay Drive, Bradenton — 0.4 miles from where he was found dead.
According to the report, an investigation of a “lewd & lascivious” crime originating from a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children complaint made to its CyberTipline by DropBox Inc., an online file sharing service, was passed along to the Bradenton police Feb. 8 from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
The Islander reviewed the report, much of which was redacted, but it named Scott St. Blanc as the subject.
The CyberTipline for reporting online crimes against children is maintained by the NCMEC and shared with local law enforcement agencies.
“At this time, this is an ongoing investigation,” the BPD report stated.
MCSO Det. Carmine Luper, named in the BPD report as the head of the St.Blanc-CyberTip investigation, also signed an affidavit for the arrest of Owen Hagan, who was employed at Island Grill.
Hagan, 27, was arrested June 28 by MCSO on 26 counts of possessing child pornography — second-degree felonies — following a Cybertip investigation — also originating from DropBox Inc. — about his computer uploads.
He remained in custody at the Manatee County jail under $650,000 bond as of July 10.
Meanwhile, the Island Grill, which was closed by the landlord on learning of St. Blanc’s death, remained shuttered as of July 10.
Speaking on behalf of the owners of the property, Darcie Duncan told The Islander July 9, “The restaurant is locked and the owners are waiting on a legal determination” to release the property to whoever is appointed to take over the lease and the business.
Members of St. Blanc’s family visited The Islander office July 7 and said they also had a lawyer working on obtaining access to the restaurant.