ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office needs the public's help identifying a woman whose body was found badly decomposing on the side of the road more than two months ago.
Investigators said a county work crew discovered the body along the 4800 block of Sneed Road, approximately 10 miles west of the Florida Turnpike entrance to Okeechobee Road, on Nov. 17.
"It is not a homicide. It is ruled a suspicious death," said Chief Deputy Brian Hester at a news conference on Monday. "The body was in a severe state of decomposition."
Chief Deputy Hester said the woman's body had likely been there for three to five days before it was discovered, and her cause of death is unknown.
In addition, toxicology tests showed no signs of an overdose, or that her death was alcohol-related.
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The sheriff's office has been exploring all leads to identify the woman and notify any family members.
"The first thing that our detectives and deputies do during an investigation like this is they look through missing persons or any other reports," Hester said. "We look through local, state, and national missing persons databases."
Detectives said the woman was between the ages of 40 and 60 years old, approximately 5'5" to 5'7" with a thin build, weighing between 80 to 100 pounds, with partially gray and brown hair, along with several surgical implants and multiple tattoos.
Those tattoos included a small flower on her right forearm, a flower on the top of her right shoulder, and a Chinese symbol on her left upper arm.
If you know who the woman is, call the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office at 772-462-3230, or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477.