NATION : Shoes in Shark Identify Victim

MAYPORT, Fla. — A pair of sneakers covering the feet found in a shark’s belly helped the family of a police officer tentatively identify him as the victim, officials said today.

Officer Thomas Caron’s relatives, shown a picture of the sneakers, said he was wearing similar shoes when he and two companions left April 27 to fish in the Atlantic, said Dr. Margarita Arruza of the county medical examiner’s office.

The crew of the Patricia Anne, a fishing boat out of Daytona Beach, reported Wednesday that while gutting an 8- to 10-foot-long tiger shark they found the shoes containing the feet.

Caron and a companion, Robert Duncan, have been missing since their boat capsized April 27 about 12 miles southeast of Mayport. The body of a third man, Robert Jones, was recovered off the Georgia coast.