ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Detectives with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office are investigating the death of a person whose body was found early Sunday along Florida A1A in Ponte Vedra Beach.
A passerby reported the body about 5:30 a.m. lying on the shoulder of the road south of Butler Boulevard, said Chuck Mulligan, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.
Mulligan said initially it was believed to be a hit-and-run fatality. The Florida Highway Patrol responded and began investigating and consulted with sheriff's deputies who also responded to the scene.
"We determined there were some factors that we wanted to make sure that if it turned out not to be a hit-and-run crash that we had our Major Crimes investigators involved," Mulligan said.
The Sheriff's Office investigators responded and are processing the scene for forensic evidence. The cause of death likely won't be known until an autopsy — probably Monday, he said.
"We are covering all our bases until we determine exactly what has occurred," Mulligan said."If it's determined it was a crash, then we'll have all the information and if we determine something else is involved in this, then we will have that investigative and forensics available."
Mulligan said he couldn't reveal if the victim was a woman or man or release the age without the permission of the next-of-kin under state law.
It appeared the person had been by the side of the road a short time — possibly overnight, he said.
Anyone with information can call the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at (904) 824-8304.
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