Body found encased in concrete may be former Florida reporter

Pensacola, FL, United States (4E) – Authorities are investigating Tuesday if the concrete-encased body found buried in a Georgia backyard is the 30-year-old former Florida journalist who has been missing since August.

According to Pensacola Police Department, an autopsy is being conducted to check if the remains belong to Sean Dugas of Pensacola who disappeared August 27 after talking to a female friend by phone.

Winder Police Chief Dennis Dorsey reported that twin brothers, William and Christopher Cormier, were arrested for concealing the death of a person and that the investigation continues.

The police visited the brothers’ father on Monday after a tip from the Pensacola police.

Detectives learned from the father, that his sons arrived from Florida three weeks ago, and he was told that the twins claimed they took care of the missing man’s dog, which they eventually killed.

Dorsey said that the dog was entombed in the backyard of the father’s rented home, where the police discovered a body, buried two feet below the surface, and placed in a plastic storage container covered with concrete.

Authorities believe the body has been there for three weeks.

The suspects were detained upon arriving at their father’s house. The father, who is not charged, is cooperating with investigators.

The twins, known for their travels and poker games, are being held in separate locations, Christopher Cormier is in Barrow County Jail while William Cormier is in Jackson County Jail.

Dugas, who used to work for the Pensacola News Journal, had a lunch appointment with a girl friend but he was not home when she arrived to pick him up. A man who was in the house told her that Dugas will come back at 3 p.m.

Capt. David Alexander of the Pensacola Police said that the man was reported missing on September 13 when the friend, who repeatedly searched for him, failed to find him after their missed lunch date.

The woman left a message asking Dugas to call her but she didn’t hear from him. She persisted in contacting the reporter over the next few days, returning to the house on September 7 and discovering the house bare with only a television left inside.

Alexander said that the woman was informed by neighbors that a U-haul truck came on September 3 and a man was seen taking out things from the house. When asked about Dugas, the man replied that Dugas was beaten and will live with him.

Dugas’ name has been listed in the National Crime Information Center’s computer data base as a missing/endangered person.

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