Human Remains Found in Trash Can in Brandon Backyard

Helicopters, news trucks, reporters and neighbors were on the scene at Larry Circle in Brandon, where human remains reportedly were found stuffed in a sealed trash can one week after an occupant of the home committed suicide.

“We, too, suspected it was a body when we saw it and that was confirmed by the medical examiner’s office,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Larry McKinnon, at the scene around 4:30 p.m. Feb. 20.

The office, he said, earlier had received a call from family members who had gone to the home, at 517 S. Larry Circle, to take care of the belongings left behind after the suicide death of Micah Rogers, 31.

There, they found a trash can outside sealed with tape. Upon opening the trash can, they discovered what they believed to be the remains of either a human or animal, McKinnon said.

What has now been confirmed to be human remains, he added, “appear to have been in [the trash can] for months.”

Rogers’ brother, identified by a neighbor as Benna Franklin Rogers, 33, has been missing for four months, McKinnon said. The sheriff's office said no official missing report had been filed and they were working to confirm the disappearance

“Right now we don’t have any connection,” he said. “It’s too early to tell.”

McKinnon said Micah Rogers left behind at least one suicide note. He reportedly had driven a motorized scooter into the home and succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The remains were taken to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, where a forensic pathologist will work to identify them and determine an exact cause of death. Due to the advanced decomposition of the body, McKinnon said, the process make take "days or even weeks."

Neighbor Koryn Kleist spoke for many when she said, “This is a quiet, nice neighborhood and for something like this to happen, it’s messed up."