OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. – Authorities in Okeechobee County made a deadly discovery, finding human remains in a wooded area.
Detectives believe the remains found Saturday morning may belong to a missing Palm Beach County Lyft driver who disappeared last week.
County officials made the discovery in a wooded part of a residential area in the northeast section of town.
It’s not far from where 74-year-old Gary Levin went missing on Monday.
“I just don’t think that anybody, for anything, deserves to be thrown away like trash,” said Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen..
Levin’s car was discovered in Ellenborough, North Carolina on Thursday driven by Matthew Scott Flores
Flores was wanted for a murder case out of Waucula County.
Police there towed away the 2022 KIA Stinger after the chase, which spanned multiple counties.
Officers even used stop sticks and a PIT maneuver to end the chase.
Levin had accepted a Lyft ride near Delray Beach at 1:30 p.m. Monday and the drop-off point was in Okeechobee at around 4:30 p.m.
His family said his phone was last used around 4 p.m. Monday in the Okeechobee area.
“He wouldn’t just on a whim take off and just go somewhere,” said Jonathan Levin, Gary Levin’s son.
His family initiated a social media campaign to find Levin after he vanished, speaking to reporters and sending messages to their father.
They’re now fearing the worst, waiting for an official identification of the human remains found.
“Whomever is responsible for this, we will do our utmost best and tirelessly work to bring those to justice,” said Sheriff Stephen.
The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office said the medical examiner will identify the body and a cause of death possibly as early as Monday.
They have not said what led them to this area.