'Jarring': Dead body found burning in Florida field, authorities say
The victim could not be identified due to the burns, the sheriff's office said.
A dead body was found burning in a Florida field on Saturday, in what authorities described as a "jarring" homicide crime scene.
A person who drove past the scene called 911 shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday to report "what appeared to be a mannequin on fire" in an open field behind a residential area in Ruskin, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Responding firefighters extinguished the flames and determined it was not a mannequin but the body of a dead person, the sheriff's office said.
The victim had upper body trauma and could not be identified "due to the severity of the burns," the sheriff's office said.
It is unclear if the person was male or female, sheriff's office spokesperson Fentress Fountain told ABC Tampa affiliate WFTS.
"This is a jarring scene," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. "At this time, our deputies are doing everything they can to determine what happened to this person."
Authorities said they believe the homicide is an isolated incident and the case remains under investigation.
