JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was one of the last lines Mitch Henderson, a local surveyor, had to cut. He had spent much of Friday working in the woods off Brightman Boulevard near the St. Johns Town Center on a new development project. But this seemingly normal day took a sudden, abnormal turn.
"It was just one of those freak things,” Henderson recalled.
Scattered about 150 yards into the woods, Henderson stumbled into skeletal remains.
"There was a skull, ribs, and a pelvis. I didn't go rooting around. I didn't want to touch anything or mess with anything. I didn't want to contaminate it for the cops,” said Henderson.
Instead, he says, he quickly called them.
On Monday, police revealed those skeletal remains appeared to be a male murder victim. Detectives found several bullet holes in the skull.
It’s creating a feeling of unease in what neighbors describe as a typically peaceful part of town.
"This is a crazy world. You never know what's going to happen,” said Airel Darden.
"Now it's just people need to watch what they're doing, watch who they're around, and what they get involved with,” said Joseph Rollberg.
The remains are now in the hands of the medical examiner’s office.
It has not been revealed yet how long the remains were in the woods or the victim’s identity.
The investigation is ongoing.
