A 77-year-old Port St. Lucie man was found dead Friday in a retention pond directly across the street from his home, hours after his wife discovered he was no longer inside their residence and reported him missing. Police say Michael Joseph Kramer had last been seen by his wife inside their home on the 1400 block of SW Mockingbird Drive the night before, and his shoes, wallet and cellphone were all still inside the house when she realized he was gone.
According to WPBF 25 News, Kramer’s wife searched for him herself and contacted local hospitals before calling police early Friday. Officers responded to the home regarding a missing adult and searched the surrounding neighborhood, eventually locating an unresponsive person in a pond across from the residence. The person’s identity and clothing matched Kramer’s description, and he was confirmed deceased at the scene.
Port St. Lucie Police Department’s dive team recovered Kramer from the water near the pond’s shoreline, the outlet reports. Police said there are no known indications of foul play at this preliminary stage of the investigation, though the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation.
A Pattern of Pond Tragedies in St. Lucie County
Kramer’s death echoes at least two other recent cases in the area. In March 2025, St. Lucie County deputies and Port St. Lucie police used a bloodhound and dive team to recover the body of 67-year-old Vincent Grasso from a pond near Savannas Preserve State Park after he walked away from his home overnight, leaving personal belongings near the water before entering. Months later, in August 2025, 13-year-old Rodger Riviera, who had autism, was found dead in a residential retention pond just yards from his Port St. Lucie home following a multi-agency search, according to WPBF 25 News.
Retention ponds like the one where Kramer was found are a defining feature of Port St. Lucie’s landscape. St. Lucie County’s public works department maintains hundreds of retention and detention ponds, swales and canals built directly within residential communities to capture stormwater runoff and prevent flooding. Aquatics and engineering research from Horizon Commercial Pools notes that these engineered ponds typically carry steep drop-offs, murky water and no physical barriers, making them severe but easy-to-overlook drowning hazards in ordinary subdivisions.
Senior Population and Statewide Water Safety Concerns
Port St. Lucie’s demographics add another layer of context. U.S. Census Bureau data shows adults 65 and older make up 21.8% of the city’s population, placing it among the top Florida municipalities for senior concentration on the Treasure Coast. Statewide, the Florida Department of Health has recorded consistently high unintentional drowning rates among adults 65 and older, with drowning remaining one of the state’s leading causes of accidental injury fatality across all age groups.
Falls are another factor that can put older residents near water in danger. Unintentional falls were the leading cause of fatal injury among Florida residents 65 and older, claiming more than 4,000 lives statewide in 2024, according to Mainstreet Daily News. It remains unknown whether a fall, a medical emergency or disorientation played any role in how Kramer ended up in the pond; that question is among those the ongoing investigation has yet to answer.
State Law Requires Immediate Police Action on Missing Reports
Florida law does not allow police departments to impose a waiting period before accepting a missing person report. Florida Statutes Chapter 937 requires law enforcement agencies to accept such reports immediately, a requirement outlined in Cocoa Beach Police Department policy documents, enabling officers to begin searching without delay once a family member calls for help.
The state also allows local Silver Alerts to be issued for missing individuals 60 or older who show signs of cognitive decline, under Florida Statutes 937.021 and 937.0201, mobilizing public broadcasts and rapid multi-agency searches, per the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is not clear from available information whether a Silver Alert was issued in Kramer’s case. Port St. Lucie Police Department’s specialized Dive Team and Marine Unit, which regularly trains for water recovery and vehicle extraction in local canals and retention ponds, was the unit that ultimately pulled Kramer from the pond.
Authorities continue to encourage the public to promptly contact law enforcement whenever a person is believed to be missing, noting that timely reporting allows officers to begin investigative and search efforts as quickly as possible. The circumstances surrounding Kramer’s death remain under investigation.
