MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A body discovered deep in the mangroves on Hutchinson Island is believed to belong to a man who had been reported missing days earlier.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office is investigating a body found just north of the House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island. Investigators are waiting for a positive identification, but the sheriff said he believes the body belongs to Michael Anthony Debevec II, as the clothing matches what Debevec was last seen wearing in surveillance video.
The body was found heavily decomposed.
The family of Debevec filed a missing person's report on Saturday after a good Samaritan found his wallet on the beach near the House of Refuge. Since then, the Martin County Sheriff's Office searched this area of Hutchinson Island by land, sea and air. Deputies later discovered Debevec's car parked at Chastain Beach just down the road.
The search continued through Tuesday morning.
"They found his backpack hanging high in a tree half an hour or so south of us. As they continued to go through the thick, thick mangroves and brushed sea grapes and mangroves behind us, they located, unfortunately, a deceased body," Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said.
Debevec's family says he has gone missing before and has a history of substance abuse, but says he had gotten clean.
The Medical Examiner's Office is working to determine the exact cause of death, looking for signs of trauma and performing a toxicology report.
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