Mystery surrounds boat that washed ashore on Southwest Florida beach

A boat washed ashore on a Southwest Florida beach overnight, but no one knows exactly where it came from.

The sailboat “Shania” is full of personal belongings, but whose?

The boat is registered to a man in Key West, and witnesses say investigators told them he woke up one day and it was gone.

“We were walking down the beach and I was just like, I don’t think that is supposed to be there like decor,” said Mindy Mussell Banks.

The man’s sailboat is now washed ashore on Clam Pass in Naples.

“Inside it, we were looking in, and there are all these ladies’ clothing looking undisturbed, and I was like this does not feel very good,” Banks said.

She said she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she saw the beat-up boat.

“I think of all the crazy things.”

The Shania is a mystery.

“It’s bizarre; like, who leaves a boat there?” asked Stacy Tracy.

Beachgoers were asking the same question. How did it get there?

“It looked like someone was living in there because all the clothes and beds are made,” said Joseph Ariyan.

“It looks like it could have been abandoned and then drifted here because it’s in bad shape,” said Marsha Goldstein.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission said the owner of the boat has been notified.

Meanwhile, beachgoers hope no one was injured.

“Hopefully the people got off long ago,” said Lauren Chill.

They’d also like more answers.

“The longer it stays here, the more mysterious it gets,” Tracy said.

If the boat did drift from Key West, that means it would have traveled more than 100 miles to Clam Pass. WINK News reached out to the owner but we haven’t heard back. FWC said it’s working with him to remove the boat.