Who is Heather Rose Strickland? Bikini-clad body found stuffed in trash bag by fishermen is identified
TAMPA, FLORIDA: Law enforcement officials have identified the mystery woman whose bikini-clad body was found stuffed in a trash bag by a group of spearfishermen off Florida's Gulf Coast as 34-year-old Heather Rose Strickland. On Saturday, December 10, around 12.40 pm, Strickland's body was found wrapped in bedding and a plastic trash bag floating 13 miles off the coast of Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay. She was last seen on December 5 leaving HCA Florida Largo Hospital located on 14th Street Southwest.
The gruesome discovery was made by a group of spearfishermen after they cut open the bag and saw the woman's corpse. The fishermen, however, could only make out that it was a human dead body that had some type of bra strap or bikini strap attached to it. It is not clear why she was in the hospital or if any of her loved ones were looking for her, as per Daily Mail.
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According to WFLA News, since the woman's body was found in federal waters, the FBI who took over the investigation has called her death 'suspicious'. Authorities are investigating how her body ended up in the ocean and are also awaiting the toxicology report to determine the cause of death. Strickland is originally from North Florida and has been living in the Clearwater-St Petersburg area for the last few years, the FBI said.
The mother, who was also known as Cherry Rose Strickland, posted different types of photos of her children on her Facebook page over the years. She is shown holding a picture of her newborn with a man named Peter Cruz in a December 7, 2012 post, as per Daily Mail.
Help #FBI Tampa get answers in the suspicious death of Heather Rose Strickland. Her body was discovered off the coast of Pinellas County on December 10th. If you have any information, call FBI Tampa at 813-253-1000 or submit a tip: https://t.co/0eeH1tWgmNhttps://t.co/uaJlKsxAOu pic.twitter.com/G2wm3bIli9
— FBI Tampa (@FBITampa) December 16, 2022
She is pictured with her arm's around an unidentified man in a post on March 2021 that says, "Its funny how people sit an talk bad to others on fb but thats ok im a great mom and love myself as well thats all that matters." Prior to the news of her death, Strickland is shown in a sensual pose on February 17 which appeared to be her last post, as per the news outlet.
Strickland stood around 5 feet 5 inches tall and had two tattoos, one on the right side of her neck of the letters 'B' and 'E' written in Old English Script. The second tattoo is a rose located on the outside of her right thigh. The Coast Guard and the St Petersburg Police Department were on site to recover the woman’s body who was initially referred to as Jane Doe.
Captain Dylan Hubbard was at a nearby marina when his crew heard the distress call coming from the vessel trying to reach the US Coast Guard after finding the body. When they heard the call come in, Hubbard said they called the vessel but were not expecting the captain's response. "He said, 'You see that plastic trash bag in front of our boat? That's a dead body,'" Hubbard recalled the captain telling him. "They're on a small boat, it's up close and personal, you don't forget that picture," he said about the discovery of the body, according to Daily Mail.
Hubbard added that he hopes this incident will at least provide Strickland's family some closure. The FBI is asking anyone with information about her death to contact FBI Tampa Field Office at 813-253-1000.