DADE CITY, Fla. (WFLA) — Hernando County deputies are investigating a man’s death after his body was found by two people canoeing down the Withlacoochee River Sunday.

The sheriff’s office said a resident on Ranch Road called first responders at about 1 p.m. after two people flagged him down in his backyard, saying they spotted a body in the river before continuing their trip down the river.

Hernando County deputies used an airboat to search the riverbank and found the body of an adult man.

According to authorities, the body was “in the advanced stages of decomposition” and was there for some time. The man was said to have “various and distinct scars, marks, and/or
tattoos.”

The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission was brought in to search the two people who spotted the body, but they never found them, officials said.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday to determine the man’s cause of death. The victim’s identity is known to law enforcement, but they are not releasing it due to Marsy’s Law.

The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said it contacted the Pasco and Sumter County Sheriff’s Office for the investigation because the body was a few feet from the Pasco County Line.

If you have information on the case, call the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit at 352-754-6830 or Hernando County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-990-TIPS (8477)  or **TIPS from a cell phone.

Online tips can also be made at the Crime Stoppers website.