A body recovered from the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia on Thursday was identified as a businessman featured on an episode of “Shark Tank.”
WPSG reported that Philip Reitnour’s body was discovered shortly before 11 a.m. near the Walnut Street Bridge. Reitnour, 58, founded Emergensee, a smartphone app that allows a user to send real-time video, audio, and GPS location data to contacts when they’re in danger.
Reitnour told the Huffington Post that he created Emergensee after losing his wife to breast cancer. In her final days, he promised her that he would keep their four children safe. He would go on to present the app on the popular ABC Show.
“Using features already built into smartphones, the app easily transmits live streaming video directly to your own trusted safety contacts, Professional Security Partners, and Professional Monitoring Agents while tracking your GPS location and ‘breadcrumb’ movements to reduce response times by half,” the Huffington Post wrote in March.
The Philadelphia medical examiner confirmed that the deceased man was Reitnour. Police told the local station that authorities found him with a gunshot wound to the forehead.
“I was walking down the bridge here and looked over and saw something floating in the water,” the man who discovered Reitnour, Chase Doran, recalled. “My heart started beating really fast and I got a really weird feeling in my stomach because this is not something I see every day.”
Court records obtained by WPVI indicated that Reitnour was $3 million in debt and was being sued at the time of his death.
Medical examiners have yet to reveal an official cause of death.
[Featured Image: WPVI (screenshot)]