5 victims, including 4 Texas Roadhouse employees, found dead in submerged car

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Police and fire rescue response to the scene outside Top Golf. Credit: WINK News.

Police have confirmed that four of the five people found dead in a submerged car near Top Golf in Fort Myers were employees at a nearby Texas Roadhouse.

According to the Fort Myers Police Department, a single car somehow crashed into a retention pond off Top Golf Way, near Colonial Boulevard, sometime between 10 p.m. Sunday and early Monday morning.

“We removed the vehicle from the lake,” said FMPD detective Kyle Martin. “The investigation is in its very infancy. We’re still completing an investigation, so there’s not a whole lot of details we can provide as far as the mechanisms or what happened at the moment, so that’s still ongoing.”

Police said they found a total of two women and three men inside the car. Their names were released Tuesday: Eric Paul, 19, Jackson Eyre, 18, Amanda Ferguson, 18, Breanna Coleman, 18, and Jesus Salinas, 18, who did not work at Texas Roadhouse.

FMPD, Fort Myers Fire and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene.

FMPD officers were called to the scene between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and the people in the car were reported missing to LCSO before that.

Parents of the victims started calling 911 at around 4 a.m. about their children having not returned from work at the Texas Roadhouse, located just about a half mile from the scene of the crash.

Family and friends were seen at the crash site, after the road opened later in the afternoon. Several bouquets of flowers were left at the scene.

During a press conference around noon, interim Fort Myers Police Chief Randall Pepitone said he was there as officers and deputies worked to retrieve the victims from the car and perform life-saving measures. However, there were no survivors.

“My condolences to the family of these victims,” said Pepitone.

The car after it was pulled from the pond. Credit: FMPD.

According to Police Sgt. Kristi Neroni, at least some of the victims worked at a Texas Roadhouse off Six Mile Cypress and Colonial Boulevard. Police said all of the victims’ families have been notified.

On Facebook, Texas Roadhouse put up a post connected to this reveal by police. The restaurant was closed for the day out of respect for the families of the victims.

A manager later confirmed they had lost four employees in the crash and shared images of the employees with WINK News.

Monday afternoon, flags at the restaurant were seen flying at half-staff, and a memorial with framed photos of each victim and flowers could be seen outside.

Flags at half-staff at the Texas Roadhouse where four victims of a fatal single car crash once worked. Credit: WINK News.

“It’s a place of comfort for many of them,” said Alan Hansen, Southwest Florida Texas Roadhouse Market Partner, about the restaurant. “These four kids, they worked with us a lot. They spent a lot of time here. This is where we come together to break bread, at Texas Roadhouse here tonight, and their families are obviously welcome. We just want to recognize their lives and the good that they’ve done in our society and in our group here at Texas Roadhouse.”

Hansen said there are plans to make a long-term memorial inside the restaurant.

Meanwhile, traffic homicide investigators are asking for tips. They want to hear from anyone who knows what this group of teenagers was doing just before the crash.

Stay tuned to WINKNews.com, WINK News App, streaming, and on air for any new developments on this story.

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