Saget's Family Didn't Know He'd Died. Then Details Leaked

2 Orange County deputies have been disciplined for confirming his death before kin was notified
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 20, 2022 10:34 AM CDT
Deputies Who Leaked Details of Saget's Death Disciplined
Bob Saget is seen arriving at a screening of "MacGruber" on Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Two deputies in Florida's Orange County have been disciplined for leaking news about Bob Saget's death before his family had been notified. Emiliano Silva, one of the deputies who responded to the Jan. 9 call at Orlando's Ritz-Carlton hotel, where Saget's body was found, had been on the scene for only about a half-hour when his brother tweeted, "RIP Bob Saget," per an internal report by the Orange County Sheriff's Office seen by WESH. The investigation found that Silva had indeed texted his brother with the news, and then, about 20 minutes later, asked him to take down the tweet, reports CNN.

Shortly after the tweet was sent out, another deputy, Steven Reed, is said to have received a text from a neighbor who'd seen an "RIP Bob Saget" tweet and wanted to know if the news was true. Reed told investigators he wasn't at the hotel with Silva at the time, but instead was off duty and dining at a restaurant with colleagues, one of whom had just informed him of the 65-year-old's death. Reed confirmed the news to the person texting him, then texted a second neighbor acknowledging the actor had died. Authorities hadn't yet let Saget's family know what had happened.

Silva told investigators he'd had "no ill intent" in informing his brother about Saget's death and that he just "really wasn't thinking," per the report. Reed, for his part, said, "Hindsight, probably shouldn't have shared it in the way and the manner that I did." The report notes that the deputies were found to have violated departmental policy, though it's not clear what their discipline entails. Meanwhile, Today notes that Saget's daughter Lara shared a poignant Father's Day message over the weekend. "My dad wasn't just my dad, he was my best friend," the 32-year-old wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday. "He wore his heart. He didn't hide it; he wasn't afraid of love." (More Bob Saget stories.)

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