A missing Oklahoma man’s vehicle was found abandoned near Chastain Beach in Stuart this week, and his family says they haven’t heard a word from him since he vanished. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is now asking the public for help finding 5-foot-7-inch Michael Anthony Debevec II, who was visiting the area with family when he disappeared.
According to CBS 12, Debevec went to Chastain Beach and has not been seen since, with his vehicle later recovered near the same location. The sheriff’s office says he may be experiencing an emotional breakdown, though that has not been confirmed as the cause of his disappearance. Deputies describe him as having blue eyes and are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to come forward.
Debevec was last seen on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 26, according to Treasure Coast Today, which reported the timeline established by the sheriff’s office between his last sighting and Sunday’s public appeal for help. That gap of several days between when he was last seen and when the case went public has left investigators working with limited leads at the water’s edge.
A Rocky, Often Unguarded Stretch of Coast
Chastain Beach sits along South Ocean Boulevard on Hutchinson Island and is known locally as “The Rocks” because of the Anastasia limestone formations that line the shore and extend underwater, per Discover Martin County. The same source notes the beach offers public access to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River Lagoon, but lifeguard coverage there is seasonal, leaving the surf unwatched during off-peak stretches of the year. Those terrain and staffing factors add complexity to a search centered on a rocky, partly unsupervised coastline…