NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Details are few related to the death of a New York man who survived a 2003 suicide attempt over the area’s Horseshoe Falls, but then disappeared from the same site in mid-April along with a 7-foot boa constrictor.

Police investigating the case have been met by mystery in the search for clear connections to the discovery of Kirk Jones’ body just weeks ago.

“I still have lots of questions,” Park Police Detective Sergeant Brian Nisbet said Tuesday morning.

A large three-ring binder sits on Nisbet’s desk as he talks about the Jones case. A half dozen compact discs rest on top of the binder.

The discs contain video footage that investigators have examined, including some shot from a drone that belonged to Jones. But Nisbet says the investigation into Jones’ death remains open because all the available evidence still hasn’t given authorities a full picture of what, for now, appears to have been a stunt attempt that went terribly wrong.

Despite the recovery of Jones’ body from the water on June 2, New York State Park Police are still trying to piece together the details of what happened to him on the morning of April 19.

In 2003, Jones had waded into the rapids on the Canadian side of the water and was swept over the Horseshoe Falls in what he said was a suicide attempt. An unemployed salesman from Canton, Michigan, Jones became the first person to survive a plunge over the falls, without a safety device or protection since 1960 when 7-year-old Roger Woodward survived wearing only a life jacket.

Jones said depression had led him to climb down an embankment and float feet first over the falls. He described the water above the brink of the falls as “like an ice bath” and said the pressure was so great “I thought it would rip the head from my body.”

But he added, “all my problems were left at the bottom of that gorge.”

As a result of the memorable feat, Jones became a part of the legend and lore of Niagara Falls, even drawing a bit of national media attention.

His celebrity, however, eventually faded. Jones, 52, had not been in the public eye in recent years.

As the investigation into his death continues, officials and area residents alike wonder if Jones was attempting another attention-worthy stunt prior to his disappearance.

The first sign that a stunt may have been underway came in a call to Park Police headquarters from a tourist. They reported a “shiny object” in the rapids.

A Park Police officer who responded to the call captured what he saw on video. In the video, a plastic orb, capable of holding a person, spins on top of the fast-moving water.

“You can see (the plastic ball) spinning in the rapids,” Nisbet told the Niagara, New York Gazette, describing the video footage. “We can also clearly see it’s unoccupied.”

The ball appears to be made of light-weight commercial plastic, with a side port to inflate it, and a blue, zippered hatch to enter it. As the ball spins in the water, the hatch is clearly open.

“We had no idea where it come from,” Nisbet said. “We didn’t now if it could have come from a backyard or someplace else. And we hadn’t heard anything about a possible stunt attempt.”

The next day, April 20, more clues surfaced. A parks employee found a crashed drone on Goat Island. Identification on the drone showed it belonged to Kirk Jones.

Then, police got a call from Jones’ wife. She told them she feared her husband had gone over the falls.

A source said Jones had called his wife and told her he was “doing a stunt at the falls.” Jones reportedly told to her to wish him luck.

It was the last she heard from him.

Later in the day, Nisbet found a now-defunct webpage that featured a photo of the falls with a picture of Jones, and his boa constrictor Misty, with a headline that read: “Believe in the Impossible Kirk Jones + Misty Conquer Niagara Falls NY 2017.”

The site offered t-shirts with the legend and photos for sale.

Park Police then began an intense manhunt for Jones and the snake. When the plastic ball finally went over the falls there was no trace of Jones or Misty inside. The ball’s hatch was open and there were large gashes in the plastic.

“We were looking for him and a 7-foot boa constrictor,” Nisbet said. “But experts on exotic pets told us that the snake could not survive in water that cold.”

Investigators were also contacted by a Michigan man who told them he had come to the Falls with Jones to help him with a stunt. The man said he helped carry the ball into the state park but decided the stunt was too risky and left.

Jones’ friend told investigators that the would-be daredevil had a wrist control for his drone. Park Police eagerly looked at the video recovered from it.

To their disappointment, the video lasted just 2 minutes and 44 seconds. The drone takes off, hovers over the rapids, and then crashes. All that is visible in the footage is the fast flowing water. There is no sign of Jones, Misty or the plastic ball.

“We didn’t know if we actually had a stunt or even a hoax,” Park Police Major Patrick Moriarty said.

Police did find Jones’ parked van. Inside was an empty snake cage.

“We had no sign of Kirk, but we had his drone, we had his van, we had his ball,” Nisbet said. “We don’t know if he ever got in (the ball), we don’t know how he got in the water, we don’t actually know how the stunt went awry.”

On June 2, a sailing vessel at the mouth of Lake Ontario and the Niagara River discovered Jones’ body.

“They saw a body in the water and notified the Coast Guard in Youngstown,” Nisbet said. “The Coast Guard then made the recovery.”

For now, answers to the officers’ questions remain elusive.

“Misty is still missing. We don’t know what happened to Misty,” Nisbet said. “We still have all these questions about what happened. It’s been very peculiar. And the answers to our questions probably went over the falls with Kirk.”

Pfeiffer writes for the Niagara, New York Gazette.