A 2008 death in FWB was ruled an 'accidental drowning.' Now the case has been reopened
FORT WALTON BEACH — It’s been 14 years since 38-year-old Marcus Cannon’s body was discovered by a group of boaters in Santa Rosa Sound.
The case was inactive for several years after an autopsy report concluded that Cannon’s death was likely an accidental drowning. But a possible new lead has led the Fort Walton Beach Police Department to reopen the case.
“Anytime anybody comes up with information that could possibly lead it in a different direction, of course we’re going to open it back up and see if it goes anywhere,” said police Sgt. Kendra Stalls, the detective now in charge of the case.
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Although the case was stagnant until around 2018, Dorothy Cannon has been adamant for years that her son’s death was not an accident.
“When I got the news, I knew my son didn’t drown,” she told the Daily News in an August 2008 interview.
Now, 14 years later, she is still looking for closure. Cannon said she had received little word from police until Sgt. Stalls took over the case about a year ago. The Cannon family feels that the investigation was not as thorough as it should have been.
'I feel like I'm not getting justice'
The initial detective on the case has since retired, but still works for the Police Department on a voluntary part-time basis as a reserve officer.
“We knew all along my son didn’t drown,” Dorothy Cannon said. “There’s days that I cry because I feel like I’m not getting justice and I feel like they don’t care. It’s like everything we do is a dead end. We’re trying to do this on our own and it’s hard.”
Stalls said she could not comment on the investigation prior to her involvement in the case. However, it was recently reopened after police learned someone may have witnessed Marcus Cannon’s death.
“The case was inactivated by the former detective,” Stalls said. “But right now the case status is open. I started taking Mrs. Cannon’s phone calls whenever I got upstairs to this position of investigations, so I’ve been up here for about a year and a half, roughly.”
Marcus D. Cannon, known by his close friends as “Dee Dee,” was a former athlete at the University of Tennessee. He grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, where his family still lives today.
Dorothy Cannon said he was well-liked and got along well with others. His daughter, who was 10 years old at the time of his death, now has a family of her own.
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“She went to college. She graduated from high school. I raised her after his death,” Cannon said of her granddaughter. “I told my son when he left and went to Florida, 'Don’t ever worry. I’m always going to help you with her.' ”
Marcus Cannon was a deckhand on a fishing boat called the Evening Star and had been living aboard the vessel. He was known by many employees and residents who often saw him around the docks in Fort Walton Beach.
His family had planned to visit him the same week his body was found floating in the Sound.
“We were going to leave that Friday and go spend the week with him in Florida,” Dorothy Cannon said. “Then it was that Thursday when we got the bad news.”
Report details initial investigation
A sailboat broke down not far from what was then known as The Boat Marina at 32 Miracle Strip Parkway in Fort Walton Beach, according to the initial police report. Three passengers were forced to paddle to the pier to make repairs.
It was about 8 p.m. July 23 that they noticed an object floating in the water. When they got closer, they realized it was a dead body and called 911. Cannon's body was found close to 24 hours after he was last seen, according to information in the report.
He reportedly had lacerations above and below his left eye and an injury to his left ear. Investigators conducted interviews with three Boat Marina employees that same night.
They each told police the Evening Star had returned from fishing on Monday, July 21. The boat was docked two piers to the east of where Cannon’s body was found. The crew unloaded the fish early the next morning.
One of the employees noted seeing Marcus Cannon about 1 p.m. July 22. He told police Cannon was “very impaired by an unknown substance” and later said that in the past Cannon had allegedly offered to supply him with Xanax.
Other marina employees and residents also reportedly noticed that Marcus Cannon had been drinking and was slurring his speech throughout the day.
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The last person to see him told police that Cannon “stumbled off” toward the Evening Star about 7:30 p.m. July 22. According to the report, investigators found a pile of his clothes at the rear of the boat.
One sandal was found on the edge of the boat, which police thought suggested “that someone may have lost their footing and maybe fell between the boat and the pier.”
There was no blood discovered on the pier or boat, and according to the report, no obvious signs of a struggle.
The Medical Examiner’s report indicated that the lacerations to Cannon’s face were consistent with a fall. The injury to his ear was determined to be caused by marine life.
On Dec. 3, 2008, the Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that his cause of death was likely from “drowning due to falling while disoriented due to toxic effects of ethanol and alprazolam,” which is commonly known as Xanax.
The detection of ethanol indicates that a person has likely been drinking. According to the report, the death was initially determined to be an accident and the case was closed in December.
New information surfaces
Dorothy Cannon received a phone call July 24 during which she learned her son had died. He was flown back to Tennessee that weekend to be buried in Franklin. Cannon said she and Marcus' two sisters have hardly gone a day without thinking about him.
“We go and take care of his grave. We don’t miss a holiday. Everything we have we involve him in it,” she said. “We talk about him during holidays. Losing a child hurts worse than your mom or your daddy.”
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It was March 18, 2018, that she learned one of her son’s friends had allegedly confessed that he was there the night Marcus Cannon died. He claimed to have seen a struggle between Cannon and two others that resulted in his death.
“They’re the ones that killed my son,” Dorothy Cannon said. “They’re trying to say his death was a drowning, but that isn’t what it is. It’s been years and years, but I don’t care how long it’s been. Before I leave this universe I’m going to get justice.”
Stalls could not provide any further details because of the active investigation.
However, she said Fort Walton Beach police have been working with the Columbia, Tennessee, Police Department’s Investigations Division to locate the person who claimed to have seen Cannon’s death. The man is believed to live in Columbia, Tennessee.
“As of right now we have not had contact with this individual, but it’s open so I can’t speak too much on it,” she said. “At this time we’re just kind of at a standstill until I’m able to locate who I need to locate.”
While all initial reports still indicate that it was an accidental drowning, police are considering other possibilities. Stalls said there is little other information in the case at this time, but she hopes to help Cannon's mother find closure.
“I understand that she is a grieving mother and there’s not much that I can say or do, or that anybody can say or do to fix that for her,” Stalls said. “I just hope that by going through this, whether he decides to come forward or not with the information that he has, she’s able to get her closure or the answers that she needs.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: FWB police reopen 2008 death investigation amid new information
