Good Samaritan Sought Who Gave Aid to Dying Dad at Regency Square

The man who rendered aid to a dying Sean Michael Buchanan after his attack at the Regency Square shopping center in Brandon never left his name. Or contact information.

And now it’s exactly those two things that homicide detectives are desperately trying to determine as they track down the person responsible for the death of Buchanan. He was found May 30 critically injured in his car in an embankment behind the AMC The Regnecy 20 movie theater, where he had earlier seen a movie.

The Good Samaritan is described as a white male driving a white pickup truck.

“Detectives would like to talk to this man and determine if the victim may have made any dying statements,” according to a June 17 report released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. “Also, the family would like to thank him for (the) care and comfort he provided to Sean.”

The family issued its own pleadings for leads, at a June 3 press conference at the Falkenburg Road offices of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies reported finding Buchanan at around 10:39 a.m., with trauma to the upper body inconsistent “with being caused by a traffic crash.” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s spokesperson Larry McKinnon said Buchanan was found “conscious, but incoherent and confused” and unable to give information about what had happened to him. 

According to detectives, the Good Samaritan was flagged down by the woman who called 911 to report what she believed was an automobile crash. While awaiting the arrival of emergency responders, the woman “flagged down a white male driving a white pickup truck and asked the man to help her with the victim.”

Noting he was an emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic trainee, the man attempted to render lifesaving aid.

“The man then went inside the vehicle and tried to help the dying victim before he was transferred to Tampa General Hospital,” where he later died, according to the sheriff’s report. “This man then left when paramedics and deputies arrived and did not leave his name or any contact information.”

Days later, the sheriff’s office distributed and posted fliers seeking anyone in the area on May 30, between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., who “might have seen the victim, the victim’s vehicle or the unidentified person of interest” pictured on the flyer.

"This individual we're hoping might know something about what took place," McKinnon said in an interview at the time. "He might be totally unaware of anything that occurred that night or he could have seen something that might just get us to the next level of the investigation."

The person pictured on the flier is described as white or Hispanic, age 18-35, with a thin build, weighing 140-170 pounds and standing between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-11. He was seen wearing a dark baseball cap with a flat bill, gray T-shirt with a logo on the front and pants described as blue jeans.