Body recovered from backyard in Florida

On Saturday, February 1st, officers with the Marion County Sheriff's Office responded to a residence on a call reporting possible human remains.

When officers arrived, WCJB reports that they met with a woman that was visibly shaken and crying.  She told them that there was a body buried beneath a mound of dirt in the back of the residence.

A man contacted at the scene reportedly denied the presence of a body saying that the dirt was there because he had dug out a new burn pit three weeks prior.  The man is said to have given officers permission to dig into the mound.

In a statement on their Facebook page, the Marion County Sheriff's Office confirmed that "the remains of one adult male have been recovered from the property."

At this time, authorities have released neither the identity of the man found nor the nature of his death.

“At this point in time no arrests have been made, but we are working every lead diligently and our detectives are doing everything they can,” Cecelia Koon, spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

The investigation is ongoing.

"Please reach out to the sheriff's office, please contact Detective Simpson of the Marion County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit or contact Crime Stoppers to report anonymously, all information is incredibly valuable to us right now,” Koon stated.