St. Petersburg, Florida -- The body of a man found below an underpass this afternoon has been identified as a motorcyclist killed some 12 hours earlier in a crash on Interstate 375, the Florida Highway Patrol said tonight.

Jose Antonio Pagan, 23, of St. Petersburg crashed his motorcycle against a concrete barrier around midnight Thursday, ejecting him 28 feet to the ground below and hurling his body under the 8th Street ramp.

At the time of the crash, the FHP investigated what appeared to be a disabled vehicle on the shoulder of I-375. Troopers and city police searched the area for the driver but could not locate him. They also tried to contact the registered owner of the motorcycle, and checked local hospitals without success.

Shortly before 3 p.m. today, a pedestrian found his body under the 8th street overpass in a fenced in area. The FHP said the location was not visible from the I-375 overpass.