Who was Jason Winoker? Body of missing Florida dad, 52, discovered in woods a year after he vanished
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA: Jason Winoker who went missing in 2021 while dropping off one of his four children at Florida State University has reportedly been discovered dead, according to Florida police. The 52-year-old from Pasco County went missing in the fall of 2021.
According to the New York Post, human remains were found by the Tallahassee Police Department, on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, at 3 pm in a densely wooded area off of Apalachee Parkway after a year. Detectives believed the remains belong to Winoker, who was last seen on August 17, 2021.
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Who was Jason Winoker?
On August 17, 2021, Winoker reportedly vanished from the SpringHill Suites by Marriott, which is about a third of a mile down the Apalachee Parkway and directly across from where his remains were discovered. When he and his wife Renee were sound asleep in their room at around 1 am, Winoker woke up, grabbed his wallet and room key, and left without his phone, Renee had told CBS affiliate WCTV.
As per HuffPost, Renee, who posted about her husband's final hours on social media, said he had been struggling with depression and insomnia and occasionally needed some alone time "to work it out." She stated that she assumed he might have visited the hotel lobby. But when he didn't show up that evening, she started to worry.
Around the time of Jason's disappearance, Renee told local station WFLA that neighborhood police had searched the hotel's surrounding area with dogs for a mile. In the past, Renee had said, "They have used cadaver dogs, drones, and dogs specifically trained to pick up his scent, but they haven't been able to pick up on a solid trail."
The city police announced that the human remains discovered in a nearby wooded area were most likely those of the missing Florida father.
His family posted on Facebook in a group dedicated to learning what happened to him after he left his hotel room around 1 am that morning, wearing the same gray shirt and tan shorts he wore when he was last seen alive, that he was still wearing the same gray shirt and tan shorts he wore when he was last seen alive.
Winoker's wife Renee reportedly told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening, "We are devastated."
Renee posted on Facebook, "They cannot rule out that he suffered a soft tissue injury. He had no obvious skeletal injuries." The police are working to retrieve his defibrillator's data. Winoker reportedly had an internal cardiac defibrillator.
Renee added that the investigation is still ongoing and requested that anyone who may have had information about what happened the night her husband vanished contact Tallahassee police at (850) 891-4200.