FBI identifies body of woman found wrapped in trash bag floating off Egmont Key
Image of Heather Rose Strickland provided by the FBI. Officials said her body was found floating off the coast of Egmont Key on Dec. 10, 2022. She was last seen Dec. 5.
EGMONT KEY, Fla. - Nearly a week after fishermen found the body of a woman wrapped in a trash bag floating off the coast of Pinellas County last weekend, federal authorities now know the identity of the victim — and they are asking the public for help to figure out how she died.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation identified the woman as 34-year-old Heather Rose Strickland.
According to investigators, Strickland's body was found wrapped in bedding in a plastic trash bag 13 miles off the coast of Egmont Key around 12:40 p.m. Saturday.
Fishermen who found her body initially believed it was trash in the water, but after cutting the plastic, they said they saw skin and what was believed to be a bra strap or a bikini. That's when they made a distress call to the U.S. Coast Guard upon realizing it was human remains.
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The FBI became the lead agency investigating the incident since Strickland's body was found in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
Authorities said they are awaiting toxicology reports from the Medical Examiner's Office to help determine Strickland's cause of death.
Strickland was last seen Dec. 5 leaving HCA Florida Largo Hospital, located at 201 14th Street Southwest in Largo, according to the FBI.
She is originally from north Florida, but has spent the last five years in the Clearwater and St. Pete area.
FBI Tampa is asking for the public's help to provide any information that would assist law enforcement with piecing together the events that led to Strickland's death, which they called "suspicious."
Anyone with information is asked ot call the FBI at 813-253-1000 or submit a tip to their website: tips.fbi.gov. You can remain anonymous.