Composite of the decedent created by the University of South Florida.
Composite of the decedent created by the University of South Florida.
Date of Discovery: May 22, 2000
Location of Discovery: Brooksville, Hernando County, Florida
Estimated Date of Death: 2000
State of Remains: Skeletal - Remains consist of partial skull only. No mandible was found and no teeth were found.
Cause of Death: Unknown
Estimated Age: 18-99 years old
Race: Black/African American
Sex: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: The skull is damaged on the right side,
but officials at the time said at the time of discovery that they did not know whether the trauma resulted from a blow to the head near the time of death or from post-mortem damage inflicted by wild animals.
Dentals: Not Available. No teeth were found.
Fingerprints: Not Available.
DNA: The skull is being processed to develop a DNA profile.
Clothing: None
Jewelry: None
Additional Personal Items: None
A 10-year-old girl discovered a partial human skull in a wooded area off of U.S. Hwy. 19 near Palmdale Road in Brooksville in northern Hernando County, near the Hernando-Citrus county line.
The girl had asked her parents to pull over off of the highway so she could relieve herself. When the girl went into the woods and saw the skull, she called out for her mother.
Unsure if the skull was human, they took it home and called the authorities.
Sheriff’s deputies responded and the woman showed them the area in which her daughter found the skull.
Since no other bones were found in the area, officials suspect the skull may have been dragged from the rest of the body.
The skull was forensically examined and is believed to be that of an adult black male.
The area where the skull was found is near where serial killer Robert Dale Henderson dumped the bodies of three hitchhikers he picked up near Panama City in 1982. All of those bodies were recovered.
Agency Name: Hernando County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Det. George Loydgren
Agency Phone Number: 352-754-6830
Agency E-Mail: gloydgren@hernandosheriff.org
Agency Case Number: 2000-08205
Agency Name: District 5 Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Lindsey Bayer, Medicolegal Death Investigator & Director of Operations
Agency Phone Number: 352-326-5961
Agency E-Mail: lindsey.bayer@marioncountyfl.org
Agency Case Number: 2000-00559
NCIC Case Number: U-270023091
NamUs Case Number: UP 6044
Former Hot Case Number: 1569
NamUs
FLUIDDB (Florida Unidentified Decedents Database)
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Hernando County Sheriff's Office
Tampa Bay Times
Added: 03/27/09; Last Updated: 05/06/21
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team.
** Listed information may be estimated.
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