Heroic beach rescue leads to shocking discovery about double murder suspect

A Florida woman rushed to rescue a struggling swimmer, only to later learn he is wanted in connection with a double homicide.

Belinda, who wished to remain identified by her first name, was taking a morning walk near Riomar Beach in Vero Beach, Florida, on March 24 when she heard a man calling for help.

“I could hear a faint ‘help, help, help,’” she told ABC affiliate WPBF 25 News. “I looked and saw someone in distress.”

She ran into the water and instructed the man to lie on his back and let the waves carry him. The swimmer told her he was “exhausted and tired” and joked he might “take a long vacation.”

Police now believe the man is 64-year-old Jesse Scott Ellis, who is accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife, 49-year-old Stacie Mason, and her alleged romantic partner, 56-year-old Danny Ooley, earlier that morning. 

Mason and Ooley were employees of Indian River County’s public works department.

Video footage released by the Vero Beach Police Department shows Ellis crawling slowly out of the water with Belinda crouched nearby. 

She told WPBF that she was unaware at the time that the man she had helped was a homicide suspect.

“Even after learning who he is, I still would have helped him,” Belinda said. “I could not leave him in the water no matter what. Everybody is going through something.”

According to a press conference shared by TCPalm, Mason and Ooley were found with multiple gunshot wounds around 7 a.m. in a parking lot at the Indian River County Library System’s main branch.

Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said surveillance footage led detectives to identify Ellis as a person of interest. 

He confirmed that Mason and Ellis had been separating and moving toward divorce, and that Mason was allegedly involved romantically with Ooley.