Missing University of Florida student’s body believed found

Gainesville, FL, United States (4E) – More than three weeks after the University of Florida student went missing, his family announced Saturday that the 18-year-old’s remains have been found by hunters in Levy County, Florida.

The father of Christian Aguilar, who drove from Miami to Gainesville to identify him, said that a body matching the teen’s description is his son.

Carlos Aguilar told reporters that “we believe that Christian has been found and our prayers have been heard.”

According to Gainesville police spokesman Ben Tobias, officials are examining a body that has been discovered but did not divulge if it is that of Christian Aguilar.

Authorities reported that the decomposed remains, together with blue Vans shoes, duct tape and blue jeans, were recovered near a dirt road on Friday. The clothes matched what Aguilar was wearing the last day he was seen alive but investigators want to confirm the identity through forensic methods before making any statement.

Fred Oliver, a volunteer with the Levy County Sheriff’s Office, said the hunters discovered a body on the grounds of the private club, Gulf Hammock Hunting Club.

Carlos Aguilar claimed that the family is awaiting confirmation of the body’s identity but is confident that they would soon bring Christian back home and have his funeral.

His son disappeared on September 20 after a fight over a girl with Pedro Bravo, who was arrested and charged eight days later of first-degree murder in the student’s apparent death.

Police said that Bravo first informed investigators that he left the victim in a parking lot near the campus after an altercation the night the college student went missing.

Late last month, the 18-year-old Bravo altered his story on what happened after police confronted him with evidence disputing his earlier claims after investigators found Aguilar’s backpack in a suitcase inside the suspect’s closet. At that time, blood that was discovered in Bravo’s vehicle were also compared against known DNA samples of the missing teenager.

---

---