JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police called to a Windy Hill neighborhood by a man out walking his dog Sunday morning found a plastic container dumped in a retention pond. Inside, police found a naked man dead with a gunshot wound.
A Jacksonville homicide detective said the dive team retrieved a gray storage container from the pond on Dalry Drive, east of Southside Boulevard, and only a block from Windy Hill Elementary School. The victim inside was estimated to be between 30-40 years old.
Sgt. Steve Rudlaff said it appeared the man was shot elsewhere and the container dumped at this site within the last 24-36 hours.
The pond is on land owned by the city of Jacksonville and adjoins the Windy Hill Community Center.
The man who found who called the police walks his dog, Rufus, by there a few times each day.
“This morning I come out here and I saw bin floating out there by the water and I said,' What is that? Let me just go take a look and see,'” Tim Anderson.
As he got closer, it looked like a person half inside, half outside the bin.
“I was kind of hoping it wasn’t what I thought it was and it turned out to be. I thought it might’ve been a dummy or something stuck in there because of some kids just playing around or something, but I got up closer and I said, ‘Oh, that looks pretty real to me.’”
“It’s a rough world we live in right now. A lot of killing, a lot of violence this time of year, and it’s sad to know that it happened, and that somebody would actually bring somebody and dump them like that. It’s kind of depressing,” said Anderson.
The medical examiner identified the victim as 43 years old. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office no longer names victims of crimes, citing Marsy’s Law, but has classified the death as a murder.
JSO is checking missing person reports, which News4Jax Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson said they’ll check in both Jacksonville and surrounding counties.
“If they come up negative with that then they just start from square one in that particular area where the body is found to go back to where the person resides, and try and find friends family, neighbors, anyone that they can to interview and talk to to see if they have any known enemies or if they know anything that might be related to this particular incident,” said Jefferson.
Anderson says he’ll continue to walk his dog here but hopes JSO finds who is responsible.
Jefferson said the community should be aware of their surroundings and think back to the past few days, and if they remember any suspicious activity, call the police.
Anyone with information about the case or saw anything suspicious in the area is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.