Authorities are investigating the discovery of the dead body of a woman found floating off the Florida coast earlier this month.
On Dec. 10, the remains of Heather Rose Strickland were recovered by a group of fishermen floating off Egmont Key, Fla., about 13 miles off the coast of Pinellas County, Fla., according to an FBI news release.
Heather’s body was wrapped in bedding and stuffed in a plastic trash bag, the release reads.
She was last seen leaving HCA Florida Largo Hospital in Largo, Fla., Dec. 5.
A cause of death was not disclosed, but it has been classified as suspicious, according to the FBI.
Speaking with the victim’s parents, WFLA-TV reports Heather, 34, was battling drug addiction and mental illness. She was also a mom.
She spent the last five years in the Clearwater-St. Petersburg area, according to the FBI.
Her father, John Strickland, said Heather was going through “a tough time” and they were trying to get her to move back home to northern Florida to seek treatment, according to the station.
“She had some problems with mental illness, but she was a kind person, and no person deserves that,” John said.
He credits the fishermen and his faith for the discovery of his daughter’s remains.
“She never would have been found,” John said, per WFLA. “It was God’s making sure justice comes.”
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact the FBI’s Tampa Field Office at (813) 253-1000. Tips can be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.
