Human remains found on Big Pine Key

Human remains found on Big Pine Key Tuesday may be those of a man reported missing in July of 2014.

An employee of Mosquito Control called the Sheriff’s Office at 3:30 p.m. He was in the area of Industrial Road on Big Pine Key checking for standing water in a wooded area when he found bones he believed to be human. When Deputies Ken Fricke and Josh Gordon arrived, they confirmed the remains were human and found a man’s wallet nearby as well as what looked like the remains of an old homeless campsite.

The wallet had identification in it belonging to a man reported missing in July of 2014. At the time of the report, a friend of the missing man said he was worried because his friend was homeless and diabetic and was having trouble obtaining medication for his illness. The Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit investigated. As part of the investigation, they did obtain DNA from the missing man’s family members. That DNA was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS).

The remains were turned over to the Medical Examiner to see if they can be positively identified as belonging to the missing man. His family has not yet been notified that he may have been found and his name is being withheld pending that notification.