Man Found Dead in Lake Off Belle Terre Boulevard

“A fisherman called in seeing what he thought was a body in the lake there,” a sheriff’s spokesperson said around 3:30 this afternoon. “Detectives are out there, CSI, the medical examiner is on scene. They are removing the body and going to determine what happened.”

The medical examiner’s removal team had completed its work by 3:45 p.m., taking the body to St. Augustine for an autopsy. The area of the find itself was cordoned off and traffic was not allowed to stop in the area of the investigation.

About seven or eight sheriff’s units were by the lake near Zonal Geranium Trail on the east side of Belle Terre Boulevard. The identity of the man has not yet been released, the sheriff’s spokesperson said. “There’s no threat to the community,” she said.

“Every unattended death in our county is investigated to determine if a crime occurred,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Early indications are that nothing criminal occurred here but the investigation is continuing. There is no active threat to the community.”

Deputies at the scene found the vehicle believed to belong to the man. The vehicle contained drug paraphernalia, and early indications at the scene were that the death may have been related to an overdose. (This morning the sheriff’s office received a missing person report regarding a man who had not turned up for Drug Court, which is scheduled at the courthouse every Thursday. It isn’t yet clear whether the two incidents are related.)

[This is a developing story]