The person who phoned cops to report Elden Campbell’s death told police the former Lakers center’s body appeared to have washed ashore “in a white casket” in Pompano Beach, Fla.
The caller said he was sitting on the sand when he noticed something emerge from the ocean, according to 911 audio from Monday obtained by The Post.
“It looks like a casket,” the man can be heard saying in the call. “It looks like a human body on the floor — like, dead.”
Elden Campbell’s sister said his death “was all the sudden.” 11.5.96
“I didn’t get close to it,” he continued. “But I put on my camera and I zoomed in, and I was zooming in and it looked like a dead person on the floor in a white casket.”
Carey Todd, a spokesperson for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, told The Post on Friday that investigators arrived on the scene shortly before 8 p.m. and found Campbell dead “next to a jet ski.”
“The information about the casket was inaccurate,” Todd said.
“At this time,” Todd added, “there is no foul play suspected, and the death investigation is ongoing.”
Elden Campbell in locker room prior to the 2005 NBA Finals. NBAE via Getty Images
Campbell’s sister, Sandra, told The Post earlier this week she believed her brother had collapsed following a fishing trip.
“It was all the sudden,” she said. “He wasn’t sick. He was out fishing.”
Broward County Chief of Investigative Services Thomas Steinkamp said Friday that Campbell died due to drowning. The manner of his passing, Steinkamp said, was listed as an accident.
Campbell — a Lakers first-round pick in the 1990 NBA Draft who won one NBA championship in his 15-year career — was 57 years old.