Cervantes mystery: Deckhand reveals rescue of naked man after he jumped in the water and floated facedown

A Cervantes lobster fisherman has told of the moment he and his crew came across a naked man aboard a boat “screaming his lungs out” and how they thought he was dead after he jumped into the water and floated facedown. The bizarre scene that played out in front of the three fishermen in the early hours of Tuesday is being investigated as potentially linked to the grim discovery of human remains in the back of a burnt-out car nearby. Speaking exclusively to The West Australian, Brandon — who did not want his surname published — said the trio were heading out on the dinghy to start work on the lobster boat when they saw a car submerged in shallow water at about 3am. “We thought it was just an upturned boat, seen it a few times in town, especially when there’s weekenders, it happens fairly often,” the 28-year-old said. “Once we launched the boat and realised there was a car in the water pretty much fully submerged, we just thought it was somebody having a crazy weekend or somebody had stolen a car.” As the fishermen set out to sea on the work boat, two flares were set off by another lobster boat, Condor, and the crew turned around to assist. “We got closer and realised there was a naked man standing on the bow of it, completely in distress,” Brandon said. It is believed the naked man drove the car into the ocean before untying the boat at the jetty and drifting out to sea. Brandon said the boat had drifted about 500m offshore. “It was something a bit different, so we sort of hung back and called the police and didn’t know what to do,” he said. “He was carrying on pretty erratically on the boat just screaming at the top of his lungs. “He didn’t know where he was, how he got there, what he was doing ... just wanted help and then climbed on the roof and jumped off into the water.” Brandon said the crew thought the man was dead as he floated facedown for about 40 seconds. “I don’t know if he passed out or if it was intentional of him laying facedown in the water but it looked like he’d given up, it honestly looked like it was the worst-case scenario,” the deckhand said. When the man was pulled out of the water, he was “completely lost” and couldn’t remember his name. “You could see it in his eyes and his expressions, he was just pacing around on deck, pulling his hair out,” Brandon said. “You could hear it in his voice, you could see it in his body actions ... he was lost.” “We didn’t have to restrain him at all. Actually, we comforted him. We gave him a towel, we gave him a jacket, we tried to help him the best we could . . . we had no idea he’d done what he’d done.” The crew took him back to the jetty, where he received medical attention and was taken into police custody. Police said on Wednesday that the 20-year-old man was in custody and assisting with inquiries. The car was retrieved by a police dive team and towed from the scene at about 3.30pm on Tuesday. Nothing suspicious was found inside. On Wednesday afternoon, the red bumper from the submerged car was reported to be washed up on the beach, south of the Lobster Shack. Police attended and inspected the bumper, taking swabs before covering it and taking it away for further examination. Meanwhile, Cervantes Pinnacles Motel general manager Tony Monk said the incident had shocked the small fishing town. “It was nothing to do with people in town that we are aware of,” he said. “There’s often things up and down the highways north and south of Perth and things can happen, and it just happens to be that Cervantes was chosen that night by a person or people ... that just happened to come into town because they were close to us. “Something has unfolded and unfortunately Cervantes has got caught up (in it) but I’m sure the people here feel quite safe, the police have been all over it and I guess we will just wait to see whatever else unfolds.” Mr Monk said he was sure police would get to the bottom of what happened and “we will all go back to our happy selves”. “It’s very busy for us at the moment, being school holidays, and we are also coming off the back of wildflower season ... but everyone has been very understanding,” he said. Investigations are also continuing into another incident where human remains were found in the back of a burnt-out car just a few kilometres away, on Indian Ocean Drive, near Cervantes Road, in Nambung. The major crime division is examining whether the two incidents are linked. The vehicle, possibly a Pajero, was found on its side and on fire. Both vehicles are now in Perth being forensically examined. Anyone with information on the incident or who has dash cam footage travelling on Indian Ocean Drove between 9am on Monday and 12.30am on Tuesday is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online here.