Body parts recovered from SR-16 woods

St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Robbery-Homicide Detectives George Harrigan and Charles Brantley alerted Historic City News crime reporters that they are investigating the discovery of human remains located on State Road 16 this morning.

At the scene, just west of I-95 in a dense section of woods near Whisper Ridge Drive, we found investigators and crime scene technicians collecting evidence and trying to reconstruct what may have happened to the body of the yet unidentified person.

According to a statement from Public Information Officer Charles Mulligan, a deputy patrolling State Road 16 was flagged down by citizens, shortly after 8:00 a.m. Friday morning. The witnesses told the deputy that they discovered a boot — containing what they believed to be the remains of a human foot.

The District 23 Medical Examiner’s Office responded to collect the remains for identification and autopsy. No official word on whether or not foul play was involved. Mulligan told Historic City News, “At this time, there is no information to point to any known criminal activity, and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has no reports of Missing Persons that would correlate to these remains.”

Crime Scene Technicians told reporters that they believe the discovery may be consistent with animal activity — moving the boot and remains to their current location. Mulligan said, “Transient activity is not uncommon to the area and a search has begun for any additional remains that may be contained at or near the site.”

Detective Harrigan told Historic City News Editor Michael Gold that, as difficult as this investigation will be, he was disappointed that it doesn’t appear connected to the disappearance of Rebecca Ann Ware; who has been missing from St. Augustine South since she left work on October 29th. After interviewing Timothy Johnson, who, so far, is the only person of interest in that case, Harrigan says that he expects that call could come in at time.

Although a K-9 unit responded to the scene this morning, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office does not have a cadaver dog. Detective Brantley told us that when the circumstances require, they contact other law enforcement agencies in adjoining counties for assistance.

The investigation is continuing and more information will be made available as it is known to Historic City News.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer