Human remains found near I-4 in DeLand investigated as homicide case
DELAND, fla. - Detectives are trying to identify skeletal remains found near Interstate 4 in DeLand.
Police got the call to a large area of private woods near Summit Avenue and McKenzie Road, just west of I-4 on Saturday night.
An off-road driver in the woods told 911 dispatchers that he was driving down a path and saw a human skull out of the driver-side window.
"It was indeed the skeletal remains of a white male," said DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger.
Umberger said the remains and the belongings found with them were badly decomposed due to the changing environmental elements in the woods.
The chief said it looks like the body was even in water at one point that dried up, likely making it visible to the off-roader.
However, because of the decomposition, deceives aren’t sure of the victim’s age, identity or how long the man might have been there.
Umberger did say that the body doesn’t appear to match any open missing person cases in town.
"It is very suspicious. It's a suspicious death, and we're operating on the assumption that this is a homicide based on some of the things that were found around the scene and around the body and the condition of the body,” Chief Umberger said.
Police say the body is with the medical examiner who was trying to find a way to identify the man as of Monday.