The human head that washed ashore in South Florida this week belonged to a missing 19-year-old swimmer, police said Friday.
Victor Enrique Castaneda Jr. went missing Saturday near the jetty area at South Pointe Drive, Miami Beach police said. Castaneda was not found after a three-hour search, police said.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner on Friday confirmed remains found Tuesday near Key Biscayne belonged to Castaneda, police said.
Witnesses said that a good Samaritan saw Castaneda and his sister struggling in the water and saved the sister first, a police spokesperson said Saturday.
By the time, the good Samaritan went back for Castaneda, he was nowhere to be found, the spokesperson said.
A cause and manner of death for Castaneda was not released. The police spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing but at this time, there’s nothing to indicate foul play.
A beach worker Tuesday morning spotted a human head floating on the shoreline close to a small island near Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade police said.
Miami-Dade police said earlier this week that investigators had not determined whether the person was killed in a slaying or whether a marine animal or a boating accident could have led to a decapitation.