ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday Kenya Rose Che Bii was the woman found floating in the Intracoastal Waterway on Monday.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the preliminary autopsy results ruled the cause of death as drowning. No injuries or indications of foul play were found, however, the manner of death remains unclassified, the Sheriff's Office said.
The Sheriff's Office made a public request for help to determine what happened.
"We need to determine: Did she go swimming?" said Chuck Mulligan, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office. "Was the water cold? Was it a hypothermia issue?"
Investigators said Che Bii was walking in the downtown area of St. Augustine around Washington Street area at 5:35 a.m. Monday morning. A short time later deputies were called to the waterway near The Riverview Club by St. Augustine Shores around 8:30 a.m. St. Johns County Fire Rescue launched a vessel into the water and found Che Bii drifting in the waterway.
Mulligan said toxicology results had not returned yet. Those often take a month to get back.
Mulligan said the woman did not appear to have children and her family lived out of town, though they own property in St. Johns County. News4Jax tried contacting family members, but publicly listed numbers were either disconnected or no one answered.
Mulligan did not have information about where Che bii worked.
"This appears to be someone who is living a normal life and then ends up in this water," Mulligan said. "Our message to the public today is if you are in downtown St. Augustine, if you live along any of the tributaries or waterways, downtown or along the intercoastal waterway, check your video cameras,"
Che Bii, 29, is described as a female about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 140 pounds with a tattoo of a rose on her upper right thigh. She was last seen wearing a pink dress with a white v-neck t-shirt and white flowered sandals.
Investigators are asking anyone who may have been traveling in the area, business owners who may have captured video of Kenya, or anyone who may have any information related to the investigation, to contact Detective James Jackson with the Major Crimes Unit at 824-8304 or email at jpjackson@sjso.org.
Detectives will continue to conduct background into Kenya’s life, her whereabouts on Monday and any possible contacts she may have had.