'This is a jarring scene': Florida firefighters find human corpse burning in open field that bystander thought was a mannequin
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RUSKIN, FLORIDA: A bystander, who initially thought a mannequin was being burned in an open field, was shocked to know the truth after the firefighters responded to the scene. Deputies said it was not a mannequin and instead was a human corpse. The authorities are now trying to figure out the victim’s identity and determine how it ended up there. However, the severity of the burns has made it a difficult task.
“This is a jarring scene,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, according to Law&Crime. “At this time, our deputies are doing everything they can to determine what happened to this person. We do believe this is an isolated incident, and we will continue to work tirelessly until we determine how this horrific crime occurred,” he added.
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The victim had upper-body trauma
The harrowing discovery was made on Saturday, April 15, 2023, in Ruskin, Florida. According to deputies, a 911 caller told dispatch shortly after 8 am about driving by what seemed to be a mannequin. This mannequin was on fire in an open field behind a residential area in the 1100 block of Will Scarlett Avenue. Firefighters responded only to discover what the caller believed was a mannequin was actually a person. Authorities determined the victim had upper body trauma, but they could not identify the person because of the severity of the burns.
Neighbors react
“Crazy people. Crazy people everywhere,” local man Nicholas Minchew told WFLA, adding, “It’s weird. Don’t know the motives of why you would do that.” Neighbors told the outlet that the crime was surprising as this was a new neighborhood with ongoing development.
Minchew, who said he lived down the street from the crime scene for about two years, said he was doing yard work that morning and did not see or smell anything. He finally saw a report of the situation after the helicopters arrived. “Probably someone very angry at someone else,” he said, adding, “I mean, to go that far in that extent to do something, you got to be very angry at someone.”
Man who murdered step-daughter may be released from prison
Meaww previously reported that a man, who stuffed his step-daughter's body into a suitcase before setting fire to it in an attempt to conceal the six-year-old's identity, will most likely be released from jail next month. For manslaughter and being an accessory to the 2010 murder of Kiesha Abrahams, 6, Robert Smith, is currently serving a minimum 12-year sentence.
Smith was imprisoned in 2013 alongside Kiesha's mother Kristi Abrahams, who was found guilty of murder and sentenced to at least 16 years in prison. Kiesha died in her bed at their Hebersham home in Sydney's western suburbs after being knocked unconscious by her mother for refusing to put on her pajamas. After beating Kiesha, the couple chose to put her in the shower before putting her to bed, where she died.