Remains found in Florida river identified as missing Georgia man, family says
A 24-year-old Georgia man vanished on a trip to Florida, his family said.
Now, the search for answers has come to a tragic close.
“These past months have been filled with pain, uncertainty, and hope,” the family of Nicholas Lamont Anderson wrote on a GoFundMe. “Though this is not the outcome we prayed for, we are grateful to finally bring (him) home.”
Skeletal remains found on the St. Johns River in Florida’s Fleming Island community in early May were identified as Anderson, who went missing a month prior, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said Aug. 1.
His body was found near the retention wall of a private home, deputies said in a news release. Authorities didn’t release his cause of death.
“While this is a considerable step forward in this investigation, CCSO detectives are still seeking information about Mr. Anderson and circumstances leading up to the discovery of his body,” authorities said.
Anderson’s aunt, Monica Tucker, told WXIA that her nephew had traveled from Atlanta to the Jacksonville area in April to meet a man he met on a dating app.
He never boarded the bus to bring him back home, she told the station.
Tucker remembered her nephew as “kind, thoughtful, and full of life.”
“Nicholas was so much more than the tragedy surrounding his passing,” she wrote on the GoFundMe. “His smile could light up a room, and his presence left a lasting impact on those who knew and loved him.”
Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Anderson’s disappearance.
The public can contact the Clay County Sheriff’s Office at 904-264-6512, or submit an anonymous tip online, deputies said.
Fleming Island is about a 20-mile drive southwest from downtown Jacksonville.