Someone tried to burn a man’s body. Cops say it was a homicide

Detectives are investigating the slaying of an unidentified man whose body was found on fire after being dumped on a rural Manatee County road late Wednesday.

The man’s body was found on fire by a witness who lives near 11851 MJ Road around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday, according to deputies.

Crews were called to the scene in Myakka City to extinguish the flames.

The man was pronounced dead by EMS at the scene and his death is being investigated as a homicide by the sheriff’s office. The body has been removed by the medical examiner, who has started the process of identifying the man.

“It appears the person could have already been dead before they were set on fire,” said Randy Warren, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Warren said though the body was burned enough to make identification difficult, investigators were able to determine the man was African American and possibly in his late teens or early 20s. It could take several days, even weeks, to make an identification, he said.

Deputies believe the man was brought to the area where his burned body was found and may have been killed before he was dumped there, Warren said.

It’s not clear how the man got to the west side of MJ Road where he was found.

“We don’t know who the person is yet, we don’t know how they got there and the circumstances surrounding all of that is part of what we’re working on now with a lot of different leads that we’re following,” Warren said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS or online at manateecrimestoppers.com.

This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 6:34 AM.