BSO Confirms Body Found In Lauderdale Lakes Canal Connected To Car Crash Days Earlier
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Police in Broward County are confirming that a body found floating in a canal on Monday is related to a car going into that same canal two days earlier.
According to police, 25-year-old De'Andre Belim Jr. was observed trying to break into vehicles in the area of 117 Lake Emerald Drive in Lauderdale Lakes in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 30th.
He ran from deputies and escaped in a gray Ford Escape SUV.
Just six minutes later, reports came in of a vehicle sinking in a Lauderdale Lakes canal near the 3900 block of NW 31st Avenue.
Broward Sheriff's Office divers responded to the scene but were unable to find any occupants.
Two days later, Belim's body was found.
On Wednesday, detectives revealed that Belim lost control of his car while trying to turn onto Northwest 31st Avenue off of Northwest 39th Street. He crashed into a utility box and guardrail before the Ford Escape went airborne and landed in the canal.
There is still no word on the identity of a second body that was found in the same canal on Tuesday, the day after Belim was discovered.
That body was discovered in the 2600 block of NW 35th Terrace.