Tony Lee Harris (November 18, 1970 – c. November 9, 2007"The last days of Tony Harris"
ESPN, Retrieved on January 9, 2008) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, who played professionally in Asia, Europe, and Brazil. In 2007, Harris was reportedly found dead in Brazil, after disappearing two weeks earlier.

Biography

Harris attended Garfield High School in Seattle and played for

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

. While at Garfield, his team made the state finals, and, while at WSU, the team reached the east regionals of the NCAA tournament. 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,

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

. 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 Brasília, on foot and asking for money. Brazilian wire service

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major multimedia news agency in Spanish language and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was created in 1939 ...

reported that he took a taxi to

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

, then another taxi to the state of

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", re ...

. Somewhere in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

, 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.

Discovery of body and aftermath

According to the wire service, he had shown "mental imbalances", and claimed that other teammates were harassing him. 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 A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

issuer had reported several unsuccessful attempts to use his card. On November 18, 2007, officials from the U.S.

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

reported that his body had been found in an "outdoor location" some 50 miles east of

; later reports specified Formosa in the state of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

. He was said to have been found with a shoelace wrapped around his neck, and one report said he was

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

from a tree. Other reports indicated he was in a vacant lot in the city. Harris' wife's, stepfather and a friend had traveled to Brazil before the body was found.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Tony 1970 births 2000s missing person cases 2007 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Brazil American men's basketball players Basketball players from Seattle Deaths in Goiás Deaths by hanging Formerly missing people Missing person cases in Brazil Point guards Washington State Cougars men's basketball players Wonju DB Promy players Unsolved deaths

Biography

Discovery of body and aftermath

See also

References