A father of four from Florida, who went missing a little over a year ago when he went to take his daughter to college, was found dead by a group of people in the woods that were near where he was reportedly last seen.
Jason Winoker, who was 52 years at the time of his disappearance, was found on October 17 in the heavily wooded area of the Apalachee Parkway. The area where Winoker’s skeletal remains were found is about a six-minute walk from where his wife told the police she had last seen him.
Winoker’s remains were discovered by a group of men who went into the woods in search of artifacts. They stumbled upon the bones, which the Tallahassee Police Department determined to be from a human skeleton, at around 3 pm on Monday, October 17.
Alicia Hill, a Tallahassee Police Department spokesperson, said the police had previously searched the area and did not find Winoker. Hill said that based on their preliminary findings, when the remains were discovered, the police thought they were Winoker.
At first, the police said it could take months for them to positively ID the remains. Still, just a few hours after the remains were discovered, they received confirmation from the district medical examiner’s office and announced that it was indeed Jason Winoker.
She did not comment when asked if there was evidence of foul play, saying his death was still under investigation.
According to Hill, it was still unclear when Winoker might have gone into the wooded area after his wife last saw him. Apalachee Parkway is on the opposite side of the hotel where he was last seen.
Winoker and his wife were visiting Florida State University, where their daughter was just about to start the fall semester. They had traveled from Tampa, and he and his wife stayed at the Marriott SpringHill Suites. His wife said he had left their room on August 17, 2021, at 1 am, and that was the last time she saw him or heard from him. She said that Winoker suddenly woke up at 1 am, seemingly confused, grabbed his wallet and keys, and left their room without his phone.
Renee Winoker described her husband’s last moments on Facebook, saying he had been dealing with mental health issues of depression and insomnia, and sometimes he would take off to clear his mind on his own. When her husband left their room, she assumed he had gone to the hotel lobby.
She started panicking a few hours later when she could not find him, and he had not returned to the hotel by the evening of August 17, 2021.
Around the time of his disappearance, Mrs. Winoker told reporters that the police had done an extensive search around the hotel using dogs. She said the police had used cadavers, sniffers, and drones to search the area, but they could not pick up a trail.
Unfortunately, the hotel’s security video footage was not available to track Winoker’s movements, as the relevant footage had been recorded over.
Police believe the man died a short time after entering the woods. The investigation into his death continues.