as jeff patterson shows us the thieves struck sometime this week and they left with a couple of bodies. >> reporter: angelos spacola stood outside of his family's mausoleum in disbelief. >> who would take bones out? >> reporter: inside were the remains of his relatives. >> my grandfather, grandmother, great grandfather, and an aunt that we never knew. >> reporter: sometime before wednesday, thieves broke in stealing two small caskets. third casket removes moves -- removing some of the remains. anthony's brother is charles pecola. >> when i said that i shook my head and said there's people around that don't deserve to be on the same earth with most of us. and i would love to meet them, any time and any place. >> reporter: for him, the grave robbery has been devastating. >> i didn't expect it. i did not expect this. desecration of a grave, desecration of human bodies it's beyond my comprehension. >> reporter: tampa police say they are unsure of the motive in this case. jeff patterson, newschannel 8. >>> polk county sheriff judd says that two men are in custody for the execute murder of t

jeff patterson shows us this time a thief hit an area that's not known for crime. >> reporter: on tree lined streets with some homes worth well over a million dollars, crime isn't normally a concern. on saturday, that peace shattered. >> they kicked in the front door that i thought was pretty secure. >> reporter: keith robert shows me where his door was kicked in >> the closets were in disarray. >> reporter: tampa police tell us four homes were broken into on saturday in the paul macia and estates neighborhood. in one case. the thief broke into the house and the homeowner was in the shower. >> reporter: police got one thief. this surveillance video with a white car that parked in front of one of the homes they burglarized. tampa police want to stop this thief before someone is harmed during a burglary. jeff patterson, newschannel 8. >>> traffic is flowing again on 66th street in pinellas county hours after a gas leak caused evacuations. a contractor working for the county hit a gas line. nearly a dozen businesses were evacuated for a while and the road was shut down until that gas line

jeff patterson is joining us now live from the port with the update. hello jeff. >> reporter: good evening keith. before the embargo when trade was allowed between tampa and cuba, tampa was a key player between shipping between here and there. now, the question is with change on the horizon, what is this port doing about it? good. >> reporter: paul anderson is bay. in his annual state of the port for growth. >> we have some of the most available land to grow this port of any port in our nation. >> reporter: some of the growth in tampa may be coming from our south. in havana. >> port tampa bay is in the most strategic position when it comes to trade with cuba. congresswoman kathy castor is convinced trade opportunities are coming with cuba. she sponsored a bill in congress to lift the embargo. >> once that happens i think port tampa bay and this community will be able to supply telecommunications equipment. construction materials. agricultural equipment. it is important they build the relationships now so we are prepared for the jobs and that business. >

they simply have not responded. >> all right, jeff patterson, live in tampa tonight. thank you. >>> police in temple terrace are looking for several people pretending to be cops. these imposters look and act like police officers. they knock on doors and present themselves with authority. in one case, the fake cops were house and they may have taken some personal information from the owner. you don't want to fall from this. if someone shows up at your place, ask to see their credentials. >> it is similar to a drivers license. but it has the police department on it. it has a badge, a picture. >> if thaw doesn't do it, you might as well call the police to verify the person at your door is supposed to be there. >>> in polk county, deckives need your help tracking down a person who stole a big rig. this is the semitractor trailer we are talking ability. thieves managed to steal it from a commercial property in auburndale, that is a big truck to steal. it was taken some time between monday night and tuesday morning. and a reward is being offered for information in this case

newschannenel8's jeff patterson joins us live. he is in sarasota to tell us >> reporter: : good evening. the tornado hit here in sisiesta key pretty hard. but ththe light drizzle falling now is not the bibiggest problem. cleanunup an insurance problems are at the top of the e list. more than a week after the storm hit, there is still heavy lifting to be done. cleaning up the debris from the storm. inside some homes, contractedders are tearing out damaged furnishings and trying to put temporary patches on roofs and walls. >> you feel exposed to the outdoors. >> reporter: like mamany others, michelle's has a blue tatarp. >>>> it is only plastic you knowow. you don't feel totally protected. >>>> reporter: work is being done here, but the problem m for some homeowners has been findining out who is qualifieied, licensed, and bonded to do the clcleanup and repairs. >> ha is ththe thing to be cacan be absolutely trying to find business genuinely, but you don'n't know the good from the bad. >> reporter: several homeowners are battling the

jeff patterson went looking for answers. >> the state of this port is good. the president of port sam tampa bay. in his annual state of the port address, he talked about room for growth. >> we have some of the most available land to grow the port. >> reporter: some of the growth in tampa may be coming from 300 nautical miles to the south in havana. >> port tampa bay is in the most strategic position when it comes to trade with cuba. >> reporter: kathy castor is convinced trade opportunities are coming with cuba. she sponsored a bill in congress to lift the embargo. >> it is important they build the relationships now so we are prepared for those jobs. >> reporter: er son believes happens. >> port tampa bay has great infrastructure fully prepared business with cuba. >> reporter: anderson believes tampa has the opportunity to government decides trade can exist between here and there. jeff patterson, newschannel8. >>> today, two people in sarasota stepped up to help a family devastated by sunday's deadly tornado. katrina christiansen and carl corey are friends of the neighbors of steve an

jeff patterson, newschannel8. >>> it is epiphany day in tarpon springs. a day the greek orthodox church celebrates the baptism of jesus. more than 50 teens jumped into cold waters to retrieve the cross. the teen who retrieves it receives a year of good luck. this year anderson combs managed to scoop up the cross from the murky water. >> i'm happy to be a member of the church. >> this is the 110th year the epiphany has been held in tar on springs. >>> are you feeling lucky? one of the biggest power gal jackpots every is up for grabs tonight and many people are hoping they will have the lucky half billion dollars ticket. lottery tickets are selling out pretty fast though you have than winning the power ball, that didn't seem to faze some excited lotto players. >> some people think that whatever comes out, if it is destiny, meant to be, they win. >> oh my god. i would have a fit. i would scream, holler. pay my bills. take care of my family and live where i want to lovingly don't know if it is worth going to school if you don't have that much money. >> the st

>>reporter: that was jeff patterson reporting. >>> by martinez tells news channel ate that he believes even if trade does expand with cuba, growth will be slow because the cuban government does not have the money for increased trade. >>> a plan to keep voters information private fell flat. state lawmakers delayed passing legislation to remove information in a person's voter registration file from the public record. growing concerns are about identity theft as the main reason for the support of the bill. >> they may have been and a volatile relationship and moved and a month later their new addresses out there from there voter file. why there are minor children who pre-registered, why is there information, all their information out there in a state that leads the nation in identity theft. >>> the bill was tabled because one of the committee members was absent. >>> do sunshine states online vote a stray shin -- voter registration effort is on schedule. it will have a 2017 implementation date and some question whether it will make the deadline. a recent report shows things are moving alon

. >> jeff patterson live for us, thank you jeff. >>> and fishing out tornado debris one week after a tornado touched down. threatening boats and life. so it's vital to get it cleaned up. we're talking about wildlife. john riders went out on the waters and he's joining us live from sarasota. there's a lot out there john. >> reporter: there is but they've made a lot of progress. but there's still a lot of work to do. there's debris that's caught up in the man groves and in the >> reporter: all of this tornado debris has got to go. county crews are cleaning up the damage left behind from last week's tornado. the challenge is picking all of it up. >> there are some big pieces of buildings that we know that we have not seen yet. so we're looking for those. >>> across the intercostal water. county dispatch, six boats. >> just the material itself. >> reporter: the torn metal and nails can tear up boats so it's important to remove the debris. spot. so as crews are out here, they will leave markers. and a crew will come back and remove it. it's not only important for boats, but for the ecosys

newschannel8's jeff patterson shows us how it all came together. >> it's something isn't it. >> reporter: rex sparrieor is this year's captain of gasparilla. standing on the most complex and greatest float. the float began with a design concept of a skull and cross bones and grew from there. >> this was the concepts that we started original about 12 months ago. we presented this to our captain. >> reporter: his father then built it. they start with a pair of axels and wheels. then with iron, medal. material, they create the rest. >> reporter: a waterfall and smoke, lots of smoke. >> yeah it's going to have water that comes over the teeth. and recycles back into chamber. and it'll be blue water and then in addition to that, we've got, induction fans that are going to blow a lot of smoke into the crowds. >> reporter: the crowds will not be able to miss the smoke. it. them. we want them to be a part of the float as it rolls by. >> reporter: they credit the family for building this monster and getting it ready in time for parade season. >> these guys are great. we enjoyed a great partnership

jeff patterson joins us live at the duet volunteer fire department. >> good evening jen, duet is a pretty t small community the kind of place that everybody knows everybody. so when the duet volunteer fire department got word that the tornado was hitting around here, they rushed to help >> we got the first one at 3:28. >> jeff leonard is the chief of the duet volunteer fire department. when the tornado hit it was so close it affected leonard's home. >> after a few minutes the power went out so we knew we were really in for it. >> reporter: leonard and his daughter serve on the volunteer fire department. they were the first to arrive at a scene of total devastation. >> right then we started hearing kids screaming and yelling. they ran at us out in the dark and rain. >> reporter: four children and the father of the children were injured. katie and jason were killed. the home was not even recognizable when they showed up. >> they had scrapes and bumps and bruises, scared to death. >> reporter: today a family member posted this photo of the children on a go fund me account web page. the accou

this year's honorary mayor is our own jeff patterson who had plenty of bread thrown at him. >>> a mix of clear skies and clouds here at the plantation crystal river. 67 degrees our current temp. we expect thunderstorms after midnight. this is the view from freedom plaza. same story, 70 degrees. temperatures made a nice rebound today. fact we will have a nice cool week next week. the rest of this evening dry until midnight. not impossible we could see a passing sprinkle tonight. but most of it will likely be associated with the area of low pressure racing in from the west. fast storms anywhere from 2:00 to 8:00 a.m. a broad range, but they are fast moving systems. so download that storm team 8 weather max on the android or iphone or ipad. great way to track what is going on. 63 degrees at 7:00 a.m. 66 degrees at 3:00 p.m. for tomorrow. once we clear the system out, we will fairly quickly. by noon it will all be out of here. we will still have leftover clouds. 68 degrees at tia. 69 in saint petersburg. the dew point 61 with a southwest wind at 5 miles an hour. temps mostly in the upper

. >> jeff patterson live in tampa. thank you. >>> it's a case of a cockatoo caper. the bird was swiped and now sound. you, jen. this all started friday when a creepy customer stole hector who's right next to me here right out of his habitat. osowski did a story on this case. a detective broke that case because of that channel 8 viewer who saw chip's story. this surveillance video shows the man detectives believe threw hector into his backpack. a few minutes later he dances his way out of the store. >> we think that's why the dancing jig was going on. for him to kind of drown out the noises of the bird squacking from the bag. >> a woman said that she saw the story on your station, and was alerted to it because she had been given the bird to babysit over the weekend. >> reporter: today we did our own investigation and traveled to see the store. >> no she did not. >> she did not. >> reporter: a short while later, hector was home. >> here's your mama. >> hi, hi, did you miss us. >> reporter: you bet he did. >> this is amazing. hi, can you say hello to the cameras. every

jeff patterson live in tampa. >>> longer day is helping us out in the sunset category. not too bad in terms of chillier overnight. 62 degrees here at frenchy's. skies clearing out. more clouds to roll off the gulf in the forecast for tomorrow. rough surf as well. this is in the forecast for saturday. keep that in mind. west winds at 20. 30 miles per hour with gusts of 40 miles per hour, at times gale force. and abnormally high tides and winds could equal minor coastal flooding with beach erosion. and the gasparilla going on. some winds, cool, jacket weather through this period. a dip after 71 degrees today. 55 tomorrow. combine that with winds, maybe a scarf. jump right back midweek, another rain chance, storms possible long-term. maybe a few sprinkles, clouds and clear sky. partly to mostly cloudy skies on sunday. lots of sunshine but still chilly to start the day. lows in the 30s. take that weather max app with you. you can get warnings and advisories on that swchlt 55 at 3:00 pm. ski degrees tampa international. 64 in downtown st. pete. the winds are pretty strong, f

jeff patterson joining us live from lakeland with what could >> reporter: here at harden boulevard and beacon road the number of accidents has actually gone up since 2012. that's not the impact the red light camera you see over there was expected to make. signs warn motorists of red light cameras. some apps even give you warnings. but still many are getting caught. jane got a ticket then found out where her fine was going. >> i thought when you paid your fine that this money all went to the city of lakeland. then i found out it didn't. so i felt a little worse about paying that fine. >> reporter: red light fines going to a state fund. the red light camera company gets a cut. and the city arts program gets a little. >> we don't get a penny. >> the lakeland police department doesn't get any of the red light camera fine money but they still like the cameras. >> so are the red light cameras working? >> reporter: in april, city officials presented a glowing red light camera report to the state legislature. showing the number of accidents at intersections down by 43%. was outstanding. >> rep

jeff patterson has this story. >> reporter: they're small, cards. and once hidden inside a gas pump, you'd never know your credit card info has been stolen. >> this is happening at every state in the country. >> reporter: a senior analyst with gasbuddy.com has noticed a pattern in skimming incidents in florida. >> the majority have occurred in orlando and tampa. >> reporter: the state department of agriculture is in charge of inspecting the pumps for skimming devices. we found an inspector in tampa examining the pumps. gasbuddy.com has asked the state department of agriculture for more information on the skimming problem and believes into the problem in the bay area because credit card fraud is involved. he believes consumers have an obligation to report this crime to law enforcement so they can track the fraud. >>> if i want to join the club at amazon, there's a rare sale on membership. and your google maps app now knows where you're going even when you don't ask for >>> the closing numbers looked bad but they were worse earlier in the day. the low

jeff patterson joins us live in >> reporter: we've been getting a lot of calls and e- mails to our 8 on your side help line about the problem of fraud and skimming devices on gas pumps. gasbuddy.com wants more to be done to protect consumers. >> reporter: they're small, about the size of a deck of cards. and is once hidden, inside a gas pump, you'd never know your credit card info has been stolen. >> this is happening in every state in the country. >> reporter: the senior analyst with gasbuddy.com has noticed a pattern in skimming incidents in florida. >> the majority of those instances have occurred in orlando and tampa. they have been elsewhere throughout the state. but there's a heavy concentration. last year that's where the greatest concentration occurred. >> reporter: the state department of agriculture is in charge of inspecting the pumps for skimming devices. we found an inspector in tampa examining the pumps. state department of agriculture for more information on the skimming problem. they believe the secret service should look into the problem in the bay area because credi

all right, jeff patterson live in south tampa tonight. thank you. >>> and now to major breaking international news tonight. a iranian military forces have seized two u.s. navy boats and detained the 10 sailors on board. this is happening on iran's far sea island on the persian gulf. the boats were on a mission when the boats drifted into understand it was a mistake and they will release the boats and the crew members. >>> and an update tonight to breaking news, a punctured gas line that led to evacuations and traffic tie ups in pinellas county has been fixed. this is near 126th avenue north. a contractor accidentally hit the gas line. nearly a dozen businesses had to be evacuated. but tonight all the roads are back open and that gas line has been capped. >>> a pinellas county teacher was caught driving drunk on a school night. kevin timmons was going the wrong way on arminia avenue. troopers pulled him over and gave him a breathalyzer test. his blood alcohol was double the legal limit. offered for information in an early morning shooting.

. >> jeff patterson live in tampa. >>> hundred was drivers are back on the road after getting their licenses reinstated. it's actually a special day for this. they call it driver's license reinstatement day in hillsboro county. more than 300 people were able to get their licenses back. they lost them due to minor infractions like unpaid traffic tickets. many of them struggled to pay off their fines. >> it's the people who are poor who are in this situation of a catch 22. they can't pay the money, then they become more poor as a result of that. >> just been catch the bus and stuff. i'm just lucky to have it reinstated so i can get around. >> everyone who got their license back today still has to pay their tickets and the fines in full. >>> you can't win if you don't play. and this time everybody it seems wants to play! >> the powerball jackpot has we'll show you how powerball fever is sweeping the area. >> and a couple left in the lurch by the system supposed to be helping them. >> we had a high of 76 degrees today despite the morning rain. rain chances again tomorrow. >>> the jackpot now sta

. >> yeah, you heard that right much the mayor is willing up to given up jeff patterson, but refused to give up the chief to the city, so the invasion is on for saturday. news channel 8 will cover the gasparilla parade. we will co-host the coverage, jen holloway the reporter on the street, that stats at 2:30. -- starts at 2:30. >>> before we can get to the days ahead in our forecast, especially for tomorrow. looking to be a wash-out, 80% chance of storms, rain chances do drop back on thursday, but still a decent rain chance before we see drying conditions into this weekend. so we've got your weather maxed out forecast. waking up tomorrow, temperatures will be fairly mild, we'll be in the mid-60s, but rain chances are high throughout the day, expect scattered showers and storms starting in the morning hours, continuing all the way into the afternoon. so temperatures only going to make it into the low 70s, and we're starting to see some showers now. you can see some pockets of moderate rainfall pushing into hardy county, towards way chyle, and showers offshore, no lightning wing these,

news channel 8's jeff patterson shows us how the new float went from dream to re. >> rex ferrier is the captain of the mystic crew of gasparilla standing in front of the latest and greatest float. the float began with the design concept of a skull and cross bones and grew from there. >> this is some of the drawings we started initially. roughly about 12 months ago. presented this to our captain. >> chris rivers along with the brother and father built this from the ground up. >> everything is put in front of you has been done by either me, my father, or my brother. >> they start with a pair of axels and wheels and then with iron, medal, wood. styrofoam and epoxy material, they craft everything up. >> one e unique feature, a water fall and smoke, lots of smoke. >> yeah it is going to have water that comes over the teeth and recycles back into water falls on the interior chamber and it will be blue water and got induction fans that will blow a bunch of smoke on the crowd. >> the crowd won't be able to miss the smoke. >> we want the crowd to feel it, so we'll get smoke to them. we want them