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Police identify man found in trunk of burned car on Pinellas Trail

Jesus Manuel Tavarez-Soto, 55, was found in the back of his own burned Nissan Sentra, police said Thursday.
Firefighters discovered the body of Jesus Manuel Tavarez-Soto, 55, in his own 2014 Nissan Sentra about 6 a.m. Tuesday on the Skyway Trail, St. Petersburg police said in a news release Thursday.
Firefighters discovered the body of Jesus Manuel Tavarez-Soto, 55, in his own 2014 Nissan Sentra about 6 a.m. Tuesday on the Skyway Trail, St. Petersburg police said in a news release Thursday. [ St. Petersburg Police Department ]
Published Sept. 24, 2020|Updated Sept. 24, 2020

GULFPORT — Police have identified a man whose body was found in the trunk of a burned car along a section of the Pinellas Trail this week.

Firefighters discovered the body of Jesus Manuel Tavarez-Soto, 55, in his own 2014 Nissan Sentra about 6 a.m. Tuesday on the Skyway Trail, St. Petersburg police said in a news release Thursday.

The Skyway Trail is a leg of the Pinellas Trail network that runs through Clam Bayou. A cyclist called 911 after discovering the car engulfed in flames on a portion of the trail behind the Twin Brooks Golf Course near 22nd Avenue South and 41st Street.

That portion of the trail is in the city of Gulfport, so the Gulfport and St. Petersburg police departments are working on the case together, the news release said.

Police asked anyone with information to call Gulfport police dispatch at (727) 582-6177 or email mpalmisano@mygulfport.us.