The FBI has identified the body of a Florida woman who was found floating in a trash bag off the Gulf Coast.
Heather Rose Strickland, 34, was last seen on December 5 -- five days before her plastic-wrapped body was found floating in international waters, according to the FBI.
"The United States Coast Guard received a call shortly before noon last Saturday from a group of fishermen who discovered the body 13 miles off the coast of Pinellas County," the FBI said in a statement. "The body was found wrapped in bedding in a plastic trash bag."
The FBI is leading the investigation because the body was found in international waters.
As of Saturday afternoon, investigators still hadn't determined how Strickland died. Authorities are awaiting toxicology reports from the medical examiner's office to help determine a cause of death.
Strickland was last seen on December 5 leaving HCA Florida Largo Hospital, the FBI said. Originally from the North Florida region, Strickland spent the last five years in the Clearwater-St. Petersburg area.
The FBI has appealed to the public for any information that could help law enforcement piece together the events that led to Strickland’s death.
A rep for the agency says more details will be released "soon."
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