Mysterious raft washes ashore in Melbourne Beach

Brevard sheriff's deputies said a mysterious raft washed up along Melbourne Beach on Monday, but because it was already examined by the U.S. Coast Guard, they will not be be searching for anyone.

"It's a once in a lifetime finding," explained Alex Barabas, who showed us video that he took of the raft.  He said, at first, he found a trail of water bottles that led him and a friend to the raft. "When I was looking at the bottles that we found, the labels said they were made in Cuba and we kept walking down south and noticed there was a raft."

Barabas immediately wondered if everyone from the raft was ok. "My biggest concern is for their safety, I'm not sure if they made it out alive. Looks like there were some clothes still on board."  He said several items were found. "Looked like there were clothes in it, pair of shoes and an IV bag with water."  He believes it was an IV bag with a sugar mixture used for energy. 

Barabas reported the raft right away, after making the discovery.  "Contacted the Sheriff's Office."  Brevard deputies said red writing on the raft is a U.S. Coast Guard mark, meaning it had already been examined and no one was found out at sea.  

Barabas wonders who was on board and if they made it back alive.  "The water washed away any footprints, but they used something that looked like a paddle next to it and hopefully that's what they used to make it on land."  He believed up to 10 people could have fit on the raft. Again, deputies said there is no way of knowing what happened to them.