Police ID body pulled from water in Beaufort

BEAUFORT —  The man whose body was found floating in the water near Beaufort's docks Friday has been identified as a Floridian.

Rusty Sage, 46, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was found floating under the docks at 7 a.m., according to the Beaufort Police Department.

BPD Detective Troy Edwards said it has not been determined whether foul play was involved, but the death would be treated as suspicious until more information is uncovered.

Sage and another man were traveling from New Jersey to Florida in a boat named Burns Coal and had docked in Beaufort, said BPD Chief Steve Lewis.

Several people at the Beaufort Town Docks Friday morning called for help from BPD officer Tanea Murphy, who was on foot patrol in the Front Street business district, after spotting the body.

Murphy and Sgt. David Myers assisted the Beaufort Fire Department in pulling the body from the water.

Emergency workers transported Sage's body to Carteret General Hospital and have scheduled an autopsy with the county medical examiner.

"There are no apparent signs of foul play, however, until an autopsy is performed and until Detective Edwards has concluded the case we are treating the case as suspicious," Lewis said.