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Sister of Jacksonville man found dead in ditch: 'We need answers'

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE: Family says the reward for any information about Jamie Anderson's death is now at $3,500.

Original story: A Jacksonville family is pleading for information after they say their loved one was found dead in a ditch just down the road from his home.

Family says Jamie Anderson was a patient man. He had two sons and took care of his mother.

“My mom’s been sick for a long time, so having patience was hard for us sometimes but Jamie had the patience for my mom,” Donna Osteen, his sister, said.

His sisters tell Action News Jax that his body was found in a ditch on Bowden Road on Friday morning.

They said he left home to walk to the gas station at 8 p.m. Thursday. Police said a neighbor found his body down the road from Jamie Anderson's home at 10 a.m. the next day.

Police investigated for hours Friday but found little evidence at the scene.

“We need answers to find out if he was hit by a car, or if someone did something to him,” Osteen said. “We don’t know how long he laid there.”

Jamie Anderson's siblings say even the smallest piece of information could help them find out what happened to their brother.

“I’m begging you to please come forward and tell us what you know. it could be the smallest things,” Lisa Anderson said. “But it could mean everything.”

The family is offering a $3,500 reward for information about his death.

Jamie Anderson's son said of his father and whoever left him for dead:

"I can picture my father on a roof working, I can picture him laying on a couch with both legs up, I can picture him driving and chewing a banana with his mouth wide open, but it's impossible to imagine him dead in a ditch, or even dead at all. He fell off a two story roof, been shot by nailguns countless times, the man was small, but my father was tougher than anything. This is so odd, and my grandmother has been bed ridden for years, so we never imagined he would die before she did. If my father were here he wouldn't tell me to live for him, he would tell me "be better than me" because that's the type of man he was. We all want and need to know who murdered him. And until this person shows, I can forgive you, but until you turn yourself in, I have no sympathy or respect for you."

Sister of Jacksonville man found dead in ditch: 'We need answers'

Jamie Anderson told his family he was walking to the store Thursday night, but he never came home. His body was found in a ditch on Bowden Road the next morning. His sisters tell me he was a hardworking man who took care of his aging mother. Their reward for any information about his death is now $3,500.

Posted by Brittney Donovan Action News Jax on Monday, November 27, 2017