Deputies: Body washes up in Guana Preserve

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A body has washed up on the beach at the Guana Preserve, according to the St Johns County Sheriff's Office.

There's no word yet on the possible scenario that led to the body washing up Wednesday, but investigators called the Jacksonville Beach police to the scene.

SJCSO spokesman Kevin Kelshaw said a fisherman found the body in the surf and dragged it on the shore. Kelshaw said the body appears to be a man, but it is in an advanced state of decomposition and appears to have been in the ocean for a long time.

The Jacksonville Beach Police Department was called in because of the possibility that the body is that of missing UNF kayaker Garth Sangree, who disappeared from Jacksonville Beach late last month.

"There could be some (missing persons cases) from other areas with the ocean, you never know, " Kevin Kelshaw said. "Could be somebody fell off a boat. Until we get a positive ID we're not going to speculate who it might be."

The body has been transported to the Medical Examiner's Office for identification and further investigation.


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