Deputies identify body found at Babcock/Webb wildlife area

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:
Body found Babcock/Webb
Deputies are investigating after a body was found in a vehicle at the Babcock/Webb. (CREDIT: WINK News)

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office says Richard Donovan, a 77-year-old man, suffered a cardiac episode in the Babcock/Webb Wildlife Management Area.

A biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation made the grisly discovery, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arrived and found Donovan’s vehicle was stuck in sugar sand over a mile away from his body.

Donovan was found near SR-31, deputies said. He was at the Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area. He was found with a walking cane and a discolored chest, which is an indication of a cardiac episode, the sheriff’s office said.

The Babcock/Webb Wildlife Management Area is just south and east of Punta Gorda and spans Lee and Charlotte counties. It is made up of more than 80,700 acres of undeveloped expanses of wet pine flatwoods in Southwest Florida, according to the FWC website.

Investigators say Donovan’s death isn’t suspicious.

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