JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the second time in a week, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating remains found in a wooded area.
The amount of police activity at the latest crime scene off Beach Boulevard near the Florida State College at Jacksonville campus has grown since the remains were discovered by two people searching for a dog Tuesday afternoon.
While police initially wouldn't confirm the bones were human, the fact that they brought more manpower, additional crime scene vans and a mobile command post on the scene 18 hours later indicates the area was being treated as a crime. A JEA vacuum truck, normally used to drain sewer lines, also arrived Tuesday.
Neighbors and businessmen in the area said there is a homeless camp in woods nearby.
"At this point, they’re trying to put it together," News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said of the police investigation. "They’re looking at the location where the remains were found, the condition they were in. Was it in a shallow grave or was it in the woods itself?"
Officials from the college also at the scene did not want to give an interview but said that there does not appear to be any danger for anyone on campus.
JSO Sgt. E. Bawroski said the discovery was made just before 5 p.m. Thursday in the wooded area off Beach Boulevard. It was unclear how long the remains had been there. The Medical Examiner's Office was called to the scene to help in the investigation.
FSCJ sent out an alert at 7:38 p.m., saying there was a police presence in the wooded area on the far west side of the Wilson Center parking lot.
Last Thursday, human remains found Thursday when someone was clearing a wooded area off Utsey Drive. On Monday, the Sheriff's Office identified the remains as those of 18-year-old Corbin Johnson, who was reported missing one year ago.
Anyone with information on either case is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).