Photo by Gabrielle Reeder.8/4/21, 5:30 p.m.: This post has been updated with information from Caddy’s Gulfport.
Gulfport Police Department recovered the body of 31-year-old man on Monday, August 2 on the shore of Mariner’s Cove Marina, 5018 31st Ave. S.
Police identified the body as Kyle Kramer, and reported there was no visible trauma to body after being dispatched on scene at 3:14 p.m. Monday.
“He was known to reside on a vessel in Boca Ciega Bay,” Gulfport Public Information Officer Sergeant Thomas Woodman told the Gabber on Wednesday, August 3
According to Woodman, Kramer’s boat is still currently on the water.
Next of kin have been notified and police are awaiting a final cause of death from the medical examiner’s office.
Kramer was a bartender at Gulfport’s Caddy’s for the last eight months.
“He was a good soul. I remember his calming personality, his amazing hugs,” said Caddy’s manager Hayley Stewart.
This is the second tragedy to strike the Caddy’s Gulfport family. The Gulfport restaurant lost another employee last month: Dishwasher Jim Salmon died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Stewart says red tide in the area is suspected to be a catalyst for his illness.
“The first shift back is always hard; it’s the realization that someone is gone,” Stewart said. “We’re like a family here, and this brings us closer, but not in the way we want to be.”
There will be a Caddy’s-based memorial for Kramer on Friday, August 20 that coincides with his birthday. Details regarding the event will be available soon.
