BODY BELIEVED TO BE MISSING MAN IS FOUND IN THE WOODS

Volusia County Sheriff’s investigators located the remains on Thursday of a man whose body was found hanging from a tree. While the victim hasn’t been positively identified, it’s believed to be the body of a 51-year-old man who’s been missing since August. 

The victim’s skeletal remains were found hanging from a tree in a wooded area in the north part of DeLand, and the death is being treated as a suicide. The Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office will inspect the remains to confirm the identity.

Richard Dean Cook was reported missing by family members on Aug. 17. At the time, they hadn’t seen or heard from him for two days. Cook lived with his father in Deltona and reportedly had been looking for work in the DeLand area after losing his job back in June. 

In September, Cook’s abandoned pick-up truck was located in the parking lot of an Arby’s restaurant on North Woodland Boulevard in DeLand, but there was no sign of Cook. 

Acting on a tip, nearly 20 Sheriff’s investigators cleared out a large, wooded area on Thursday morning behind a nearby Dollar Tree store on North Woodland Boulevard in a renewed search for Cook. 

After about 90 minutes of searching, investigators found the body at approximately 10:15 a.m. It was deep into the woods, about 120 yards from the nearest road.

Cook’s personal identification was found on the body.