Body found behind abandoned building in downtown Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police are investigating what led to a body found downtown Saturday night.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said someone found the body shortly before midnight behind an abandoned building on the corner of South Myrtle Boulevard and Harper Street and called police.

Officers said they had very few details, describing the area as too isolated and dark to properly identify the body.

On Sunday afternoon crime scene vans pulled up, and investigators combed the area behind an abandoned building.

Investigators combed through the area for evidence as people arrived at a nearby church for their morning service and saw the roads nearby taped off.

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"To pull up on a Sunday morning and all you see is evidence wire saying do not cross -- my heart just sank,” said Giselle Lawson.

Lawson said she and her husband have been members at Allen Chapel AME for the last eight years.

“Something like this happened a few years ago, but I don’t remember the circumstances surrounding that,” Lawson said.

Next week the city will meet to decide what to do with the 500 plus abandoned properties like the one at the center of this investigation.

Action News Jax has reported on several scenes similar to this, throughout the city, where bodies have been found near abandoned properties.

In December, JSO responded to an abandoned property in Northwest Jacksonville after a man's body was found. In September, a body was found inside an abandoned Westside home.

People familiar with the area said a nearby auto shop on the corner and the church are surrounded by abandoned buildings.

“Hopefully the police will get some leads and this crime will be solved,” Lawson said. “I just hope I don’t ever have to come up here and see evidence tape around the church of all places.”

Police have not yet identified the victim or released any information about a suspect in the investigation.

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