WINDERMERE, FLa. -- The body of a missing jet skier that was found Sunday morning on Little Lake Sawyer was identified as 39-year-old Lewis Howerton. His body was found a day and a half after witnesses reported him missing following a 4th of July celebration.

Rescue crews got a call Friday night that a jet ski was circling around an area of the lake in Windermere without the driver. An Orange County Sheriff's spokesman said the man's body was found around 2:30am Sunday.

His name was not immediately released pending notification of next of kin.

Orange County Fire Rescue personnel used their own boats and requested help from a private citizen's vessel to conduct a thorough search for the missing man Friday night. The recovery operation was turned over to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which brought in their aviation unit to search the area with an infrared camera.

Witnesses said Howerton had been at one of the parties going on around the lake and took the jet ski out after dark.

The witnesses did not think he was wearing a life jacket.