JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A body was found wrapped in what appeared to be a white sheet in the trunk of an abandoned car in a wooded area along Biscayne Boulevard, according to Jacksonville police.
Homicide detectives said a patrol officer was driving on Biscayne Boulevard when he noticed an abandoned 2011 silver Nissan around 1:45 p.m. Sunday. While investigating, the officer found the dead body of a man in the trunk of the car.
The car was found near First Timothy Baptist Church, according to witnesses.
Investigators said they will run the tags to determine the car's owner. They did not release the name or cause of death for the person found in the trunk.
Police are trying to determine how long the car had been abandoned.
The vehicle was towed from the scene and taken to the Medical Examiner's Office, where the body was removed and an autopsy performed.
Neighbors said Monday that they had noticed the car and thought it was odd it had been there for so long but didn't think anything suspicious had happened.
“I saw the car as I was coming and going,” one woman said. “It’s been there for a couple days. I thought it was stolen or just dumped there.”
She said she was disturbed to learn a dead person was found in the car, especially since children are in the neighborhood.
“It’s kind of creepy. It scares me,” she said. “I would hate for them to see a body decomposing, because they’re in the school down the street and they walk up and down here every day from school.”
Another neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said she knew something was off.
“I had a strange feeling it wasn’t normal and it wasn’t something that you see every day,” she said. “You will see a car parked there, not in that one spot, but somewhere along there (for) maybe a day at most.”
She said she was glad there was no crime scene in the area.
“It was absolutely shocking that there was a body in the car. It kind of unnerves me to know that, but yet at the same time I have to think about the fact that the crime probably was not committed there,” she said. “They brought it there to leave it.”
A candlelight vigil will be held at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the Church of Jesus Christ on Dunn Avenue.