The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, in Florida, got a 911 call saying they thought a mannequin was burning in a field. When they responded, they realized it was a person on fire.
“This is a jarring scene,” said Fentress Fountain, a responder from the Sheriff’s Office. “It is horrific for our deputies to come across a deceased person, and we just want to get justice for this victim’s family, whoever this victim is.”
The call came in around 8 a.m. Saturday from a motorist.
“We are actively trying to determine what happened here,” Fountain explained. “What time the body got here and who was responsible for this crime, because it’s a pretty gruesome scene.”
“At this time, this is an isolated incident,” Fountain said. “We don’t believe there is any threat to the public. We are just working to determine what happened and release those details for the family.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim had upper body trauma but was too badly burned to be identified.
Neighbors were shocked to hear of such a horrendous a crime.
“Kind of crazy, as I was out here doing yard work this morning and I didn’t see or smell anything,” recalled Nicholas Minchew. “As I started watching the helicopters come in, I looked up and finally seen a report of what was going on.”
Minchew has lived down the street from where the body was found for two years.
“Probably someone very angry at someone else,” Minchew said. “I mean, to go that far in that extent to do something, you got to be very angry at someone.”
The sheriff’s office said its investigation is in its early stages, with the primary goal to identify the victim.
“Crazy people. Crazy people everywhere,” Minchew said. “It’s weird. Don’t know the motives of why you would do that.”
