A Florida woman was found dead, floating in a trash bag, wrapped in bedding, off the coast of Florida.
The discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, 13 miles from the coast of Pinellas County, Florida, has baffled FBI agents in the Tampa Field Office.
The woman was identified as Heather Rose Strickland, 34, of the Clearwater-St-Pete area, but she was originally from northern Florida. Fisherman found her remains.
The deceased woman was last seen alive after leaving the HCA Florida Largo Hospital on December 5, about 30 miles from where her body was found.
Heather’s father, John Strickland, told reporters, that she had been suffering from drug abuse and psychiatric issues. She was originally from her hometown, Lake City, in North Florida, where her father and stepmother live, but she spent the last five years in the Clearwater-St. Petersburg area, and has five adopted children, according to her father.
Sherrie Strickland, Heather’s stepmother, told reporters that they were trying to get Heather to return to her hometown and wanted to get her treatment.
The stepmother said she had last spoken to Heather many weeks before, and she was aware that Heather had checked herself into a psychiatric hospital, but she urged her to come to Lake City, where her father and stepmother live.
The FBI is appealing to the public for clues that will help them piece together what happened to Heather Strickland. The toxicology report is pending.
