Tony Harris (FIBA basketball)

Tony Lee Harris (November 18 1970 – approximately November 9 2007 [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=tonyharris "The last days of Tony Harris"] , ESPN, Retrieved on January 9, 2008] ) was an American basketball player from Seattle, Washington who played for professionally in Asia, Europe, and Brazil. In 2007 Harris was reportedly found dead in Brazil, after disappearing two weeks prior.

Harris attended Garfield High School in Seattle and played for Washington State University. While at Garfield, his team made the state finals, and while at WSU the team reached the east regionals of the NCAA tournament. [cite news
url=http://www.bellinghamherald.com/northwest/story/238396.html
title=FBI: Brazil police say former WSU basketball star's body found
author=Associated Press
date=November 18 2007
publisher=Bellingham Herald
accessdate=2007-11-18]

After working as a counselor in Seattle, he returned to Brazil in 2007 to play for Universo BRB, a basketball team in the capital of Brazil, Brasilia.cite news
url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/339760_robert15x.html
title=Search widens for missing Seattle basketball star
author=Robert L. Jameson, Jr.
date=November 15 2007
publisher=Seattle Times
accessdate=2007-11-18] His wife last heard from him on November 4, when he was apparently trying to take a taxi from one city to another. Brazilian media reported that teammates said he was acting strangely and he was said to have been sighted in Bezerra, a city near Brasilia, on foot and asking for money. Brazilian wire service EFE reported that he took a taxi to Goiania, then another taxi to the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Somewhere in Bahia, though, he jumped from the moving vehicle and ran off. Another account had him disappearing while the driver refueled, leaving his luggage in the vehicle.

According to the wire service, he had shown "mental imbalances", and claimed that other teammates were harassing him.cite news
url=http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=617547&s=bas&type=story
title=¿Dónde está Tony Lee Harris?
date=November 10 2007
publisher=ESPN
language=Spanish language
accessdate=2007-11-18] His wife reported that he had "feared for his life" and told her of rumors "involving himself", and though he wanted to leave the country, his passport was in custody of team management. She also said that his credit card issuer had reported several unsuccessful attempts to use his card.

On November 18 2007, officials from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that his body had been found in an "outdoor location" some 50 miles east of Brasiliacite news
url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004022061_webharris19m.html
title=Body of former WSU hoops star Harris believed found in Brazil
author=Steve Miletich and Lynda V. Mapes
date=November 18 2007
publisher=Seattle Times
accessdate=2007-11-18] ; later reports specified Formosa in the state of Goiás.cite news
url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/340178_harris19.html
title=Ex-WSU basketball star reported dead in Brazil
author=Paul Shukovsky
date=November 18 2007
publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
accessdate=2007-11-19] He was said to have been found with a shoelace wrapped around his neck, and one report said he was hanging from a tree. Other reports indicated he was in a vacant lot in the city.

Harris's wife's stepfather and a friend had traveled to Brazil before the body was found.

References