MANATEE COUNTY, FL (WWSB) - The Palma Sola Marina is typically a quiet, peaceful place. Neighbors come to watch the manatees that frequent the water. But on the morning of February 26th, the park was anything but peaceful.
It started like any other Monday morning would. Ty Ross took his two pride and joys, his dogs, Jake and Holly, for a walk around the marina.
His wife Julie went to Pilates class like she usually does. She said goodbye to Ty and turned off her phone once she got to class. When Julie checked her phone afterward, she found out her husband was dead. Ty suffered a heart attack while on his walk.
When Julie got to the scene, there was only a Manatee County Deputy still there. EMS had tried to revive Ty and were unsuccessful. They left before Julie got there. Deputies told Julie that the two dogs didn't leave her husband's side.
Julie says her husband's body was lying half in the street and half in the grass. She was told it's Manatee County EMS policy that an ambulance won't transport people who have died.
Julie and her sister Mary Hilliard immediately called Griffith-Cline Funeral Home. The owner is a close friend of the family. The funeral home was so busy that the owner himself, Ken Griffith showed up to take Ty's body. He rushed there as fast as he could.
Julie estimates that Ty's body was in the hot sun for about three hours until it was taken away. Neighbors had brought Julie a lounge chair while she waited and an umbrella to protect her beloved husband's body from the heat.
The family couldn't believe that EMS would just leave Ty's body on the side of a road. Julie calls it disrespectful.
Griffith says he had never seen anything like it.
Both the family and funeral home are calling for Manatee County EMS to change its protocol.
Julie doesn't want something like this to happen to someone else.
According to Manatee County, EMS stayed on scene for about an hour after Ty had died. As of now, officials say there is no protocol in place for when a person dies in a public place. They claim that that scenario doesn't happen very often. However, Manatee County tells ABC 7 that it is now working on a policy because of what happened to Julie and her family.
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