Coast Guard search called off

ST. PETERSBURG -- A 19-year-old Palm Harbor man may have jumped off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge early Saturday while he was arguing with someone on his cell phone.

The Coast Guard called off the search for Dustin Benson at about 1:30 p.m. after several marine units and a helicopter were unable to locate him.

Benson and four friends had been drinking and fishing on the span when "he stepped off the bridge" during the argument, said Debbie Carter, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, which is involved in the investigation.

"We believe it could have been a suicide," said Carter.

She did not have any additional information, including the identity of the person with whom Benson was arguing or the nature of the argument.

The bridge is up to 75 feet high at the point Benson either fell or jumped from the northbound lanes of the span. At its highest point, the Sunshine Skyway is about 200 feet high.

William R. Levesque, Times staff writer