Possible homicide after body found in Fellsmere

FELLSMERE — Deputies are investigating after a resident found a partially decomposed body Thursday evening, officials said.

“Based on our cursory review of the crime scene, it appears this case is a homicide,” Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar said in a statement. “As with all homicide cases, someone out there has information that could help us put the killer behind bars.”

The resident was walking a dog in a wooded area about 6 p.m. Thursday when he or she came across the remains, deputies said. The body was found in the 13000 block of 87th Street in Fellsmere.

Sebastian police Lt. Tim Wood could not confirm Friday if the body belonged to 16-year-old Logan Spencer, who had been missing since Monday. The Sebastian River High School Touchdown Club on Friday announced in a Facebook post that Spencer, a student at the school, had died.

Logan Spencer
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY SRHS TOUCHDOWN CLUB

“We lost one of our Shark warriors last night, Logan Spencer, #78,” officials said of the teen, who played football at the high school. “Logan was a friend and brother to our boys. He was a great player and life long shark.”

Spencer, of the 400 block of Watercrest Street, Sebastian, was last seen wearing dark pants, a t-shirt, flip flops and a green back pack at the Barber Street ball fields. Sebastian police issued out an alert to the public late Thursday asking for help to find Spencer.

Family members for Spencer were not immediately available for comment.

Deputies, along two crime scene vans and other sheriff’s vehicles, were still at the scene Friday morning. The sheriff’s detective bureau was at the site gathering evidence.

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Sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Eric Flowers could not comment as to why detectives suspect the incident was a homicide.

Detectives were working to identify the body. An autopsy will be conducted Friday at the medical examiner’s office to determine a cause of death.

Anyone with information on the incident should come forward, deputies said.

Those with information should contact Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS or tcwatch.org. Anyone who contacts crime stoppers can remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward of up to $3,000, deputies said.

No further information was available.

Missing Persons

Two other people who disappeared last year, Assunta ‘Susy’ Tomassi, of Fort Pierce, and Brandon Gilley, of Sebastian, still have not been found.

Tomassi was 73 years old in March 2018 when she wandered away from the Quilted Giraffe, a restaurant she and her husband had owned in south county. The eatery closed for good in August 2018.

Gilley was last seen in April 2018 driving a black Chevrolet Cavalier at the Sebastian Winn-Dixie. More than a week after his disappearance, officers found Gilley’s unoccupied vehicle in Palm Bay.

Photos by Nick Samuel

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