RUSKIN, Fla. — Hillsborough County deputies have arrested a man and are searching for another in connection to the body that was found burning in an open field last month in Ruskin.
The investigation began just after 8 a.m. on April 15, when a 911 caller said they drove by what looked like a mannequin with an arrow in its back burning in an empty field off of 14th Avenue.
Once fire rescue crews put out the blaze, investigators determined that the "mannequin" was actually a dead body with a "large, bladed weapon" in his back.
The sheriff's office said the man was so badly burned, he was not able to be immediately identified. But a paystub with his name on it was found close by.
Medical examiners later found what appeared to be tape around the man's right arm and a belt around his ankles. These findings, along with the knife in the back, led the sheriff's office to determine this was a homicide.
Detectives spoke to multiple witnesses, including the man's wife who reportedly said her husband had left for work the previous morning, Friday, April 14, and did not return home, which was not normal.
They also interviewed three other men who worked with the victim and were out drinking with him that Friday night, an arrest affidavit says. According to the document, investigators spotted the men on surveillance footage between 2:30 and 3 a.m. on Saturday in the victim's truck at multiple Hillsborough County gas stations.
On April 21, detectives interviewed 20-year-old Christian Alvarez, who told them he, the victim and another man, Carlos Almaraz-Barbosa, went to a bar on the night of April 14.
Alvarez said he witnessed Almaraz-Barbosa kill the victim, tape the body up, pour gasoline on it and light it on fire in the field, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit says after Alvarez was read his Miranda rights, he admitted to hitting the victim at least three times in the stomach and helping load the body into the truck to be moved to the field.
Alvarez was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence relating to a capital felony. He is being held in the Hillsborough County Jail on Falkenburg Road on a $600,000 bond.
Detectives are still searching for Carlos Almaraz-Barbosa. He has active warrants for second-degree murder, abuse of a dead human body, tampering with physical evidence and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
"While we believe this to be an isolated incident, this man clearly has no regard for human life, and we are committed to closing this case with his arrest," Sheriff Chad Chronister said. "I urge anyone with information about the suspect's whereabouts to come forward and help us to bring this victim's family the closure they deserve."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff's office at (813) 247-8200.