Citrus County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit detectives responded to a wooded area off West Bradshaw Street in Homosassa Friday night after human remains were discovered on scene. Deputies arrived around 8 p.m. and located heavily decomposed, mostly intact skeletal remains just outside a tent, according to the agency. A preliminary inspection revealed no immediate or obvious signs of foul play, and the cause of death remains unknown.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said experts were examining the remains for identification, but the individual's identity remained unconfirmed. Officials asked residents to avoid the area if possible while investigators clear the scene. The sheriff's office said the incident does not pose a threat to the community.
Second Discovery in Homosassa's Woods in Under Two Weeks
This marks the second time in less than two weeks that Citrus County Sheriff's Office detectives have responded to human remains found in Homosassa's wooded terrain. On August 30, deputies responded to a similar discovery in a wooded lot near West Elkhorn Drive, where preliminary observations suggested the remains had been outdoors for several years without initial evidence of foul play, as Hoodline previously reported.
Because the Bradshaw Street remains were found near a tent and showed no immediate signs of foul play, the circumstances of the death remain unknown. Forensic identification and cause of death will ultimately depend on laboratory work performed by the District 5 Medical Examiner's Office in Leesburg, which is headed by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara C. Wolf, according to 352today.
What Florida Law Requires in Death Investigations
Under Florida Statute § 406.11, district medical examiners have statutory authority to perform autopsies, laboratory tests, and forensic examinations for any unattended, sudden, or suspicious death in order to determine cause of death and establish a victim's identity, without needing permission from next of kin, according to Florida Statute § 406.11. Separately, Florida Statute § 406.12 addresses reporting certain deaths, per the Florida Senate.
An Open Missing-Person Case Still Looms Locally
Among the unresolved cases investigators may weigh during identification efforts is that of 50-year-old Carey Glenn Norton, who vanished from Homosassa in August 2023 and whose pickup truck was later found abandoned in the Withlacoochee State Forest, a case Hoodline detailed in its Norton disappearance profile. The Citrus County Sheriff's Office maintains that case as an open missing-person file.
Homosassa Springs is an unincorporated community in Citrus County, according to World Population Review. The Citrus County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division, which includes dedicated Major Crimes and Forensics units, handles complex death scenes and evidence processing across the county's 773 square miles and roughly 171,000 residents.
A Pattern of Remains Found in Homosassa's Terrain
Homosassa's wooded and waterway-laced landscape has been the site of previous major investigations involving concealed or long-hidden remains. In September 2018, Citrus County Sheriff's Office detectives investigated skeletal remains discovered inside a trash can on a wooded lot off American Avocet Point in Homosassa, according to Patch.
More recently, in June 2024, law enforcement recovered the remains of missing Hernando County woman Jamie Macdonald from a creek in Homosassa as part of a multi-agency homicide investigation that resulted in a life sentence for suspect Duane Sclesky in June 2026, as Hoodline reported in its Sclesky sentencing coverage. Local reporting also mentions a missing-person case, according to the Citrus County Chronicle.
For now, the identity of the person found off West Bradshaw Street and the circumstances of their death remain unconfirmed. The investigation remains ongoing, with the Medical Examiner's Office involved.
