Update on Big Pine Key death investigation

Sheriff’s detectives and the medical examiner’s office are still working to identify a body found in a wooded area on Big Pine Key.

The remains were found by a man and his brother on Saturday; they were in the area to retrieve some belongings left at a homeless camp in the area, which is just past the intersection of 5^th Avenue and Chambers Street. The body appears to have been there for some time.

Detectives say they still have not made positive identification of the dead person; they are also working to confirm the sex of the victim, although they say there are some indications the person may be a male. There were some papers found in the vicinity of the body, with some identifying information but they do not know if the papers belonged to the person who died, or were from some other person who has stayed in the vicinity. There were signs of a homeless encampment near where the body was located.

The Medical Examiner’s Office has possession of the body and the investigation is continuing.