OKEECHOBEE - The remains of an adult man were found earlier today in Okeechobee, the city where a missing Lyft driver from Palm Beach Gardens was last known to have been before his disappearance Monday.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents and analysts were at the scene, and the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office set up a media staging area outside the Agri-Civic Center.
Investigators did not yet have a have positive identification of the man, pending an autopsy.
Gary Levin, 74, traveled to the Delray Beach area to pick up a fare at about 1:30 p.m. Monday, his family said. About two-and-a-half hours later, the vehicle was tracked to Okeechobee County, about 90 miles away.
Levin has driven for Lyft, a ride-sharing company, for about five years, Lindsay DiBetta, Levin's daughter, said Thursday. In her social-media accounts, DiBetta said traffic highway sensors placed her father's Kia in Miami, Sumter County and in the Gainesville area in recent days.
Levin's car was found in North Carolina on Thursday as authorities took a man wanted on a murder charge in Central Florida into custody, Levin's son Jonathan said.
Authorities said Matthew Scott Flores, 35, of Arcadia was driving Levin's 2022 red Kia Stinger as state troopers in North Carolina attempted to pull the vehicle over, Jonathan Levin said Friday.
The Wauchula Police Department reported that Flores is wanted in connection with a homicide that occurred in the Hardee County city Jan. 24. Wauchula investigators at one point linked Flores to a blue 2017 Nissan Altima that had a tag switched from another vehicle.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Man's body found in Okeechobee, where missing driver was last seen
