Photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.Photo: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
Police are still investigating what happened in a small town along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where a body was found over the weekend burning in an open field.
A spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office tells PEOPLE first responders discovered the body in an open field in Ruskin, Fla., roughly 30 miles south of Tampa.
The case is still under investigation and considered to be a homicide with the victim remaining unidentified, the office said ina press release.
The sheriff’s office said the body was so severely burnt that officials were unable to immediately identify the victim, though the body was found with upper body trauma.
An individual had called 911 shortly after 8 a.m. local time on Saturday, the office said. The caller believed they were looking at a mannequin on fire in a field behind a residential area, but when Hillsborough County Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, officials realized it was a human body.
“This is a jarring scene,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “At this time, our deputies are doing everything they can to determine what happened to this person. We do believe this is an isolated incident, and we will continue to work tirelessly until we determine how this horrific crime occurred.”
A neighbortoldABC’s Tampa affiliate WFTS that he first noticed something was wrong when helicopters arrived overhead.
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“To go that far and to that extent to do something, you’ve got to be very angry at someone,” Minchew added.
source: people.com
