A homeless man named John Lewis said he first made the grisly discovery a week ago.
- Homeless man found human remains a week ago
- John Lewis, a k a 'Cowboy,' says his dog found the remains
- He was afraid he'd lose his homeless camp if he came forward
But he was worried about coming forward until Thursday, because he didn't want to lose his homeless camp.
Lewis had found human remains in a wooded area near Osceola Parkway and the Florida Turnpike.
"I've been living there in those woods for a total of almost 23 months now, and I never knew all this time that there was anything out there of this such," Lewis said.
"Cowboy" as he likes to be called, credits his dog Jet with the discovery.
"The truth is my dog likes to get into things, and one day she was plundering around. I thought she was maybe after a little critter," Lewis explained.
"Well, when I went to digging through the weeds, I pulled the weeds back and behold — this skull was upside looking me in my face," Lewis said.
Kissimmee Police has been conducting the death investigation since Thursday afternoon. Investigators spent nearly 24 hours at the scene, gathering human bones and other items as evidence.
Late Friday afternoon, a department spokesperson said the remains appear to be those of an adult man.
"Somebody wants to know where that person was, what happened to that person," Lewis said.
That's exactly why Lewis thinks he made the right decision to come forward, even when he thought he might lose his homeless camp.
"I want the people out there — whoever had this person in their life — I want them to be satisfied... let their hearts be at ease," Lewis said.
After the remains are identified, detectives will work with other law enforcement agencies in Central Florida to see whether the man's death is related to any missing persons cases.
John Lewis on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 describes how he found the human remains near the homeless camp in Kissimmee a week ago. (John W. Davis, staff)