ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The body found in a wooded area of east Orange County on Friday is of a teen whose disappearance prompted an Amber Alert, Winter Garden Police say.
- Winter Garden Police were out in Wedgefield in east Orange County
- Cops: Arrest made in missing teen who prompted Amber Alert
- Body found is that of missing teen Bruce Haggins, police said late Friday
Several officers and detectives with the Winter Garden Police and deputies with the Orange County Sheriff's Office had cordoned off much of the Wedgefield community with crime-scene tape Friday morning.
The neighborhood is on the opposite side of the county from Winter Garden.
They left the scene on Robertson Street in the late afternoon.
Police had been tight-lipped about the investigation, but they said in addition to the recovery of the body just before 1 p.m., Winter Garden Police arrested a person in connection to the Amber Alert issued for missing teen Bruce Haggins.
Luis Mario Rivera Sr., 49, is being charged with five counts of tampering with physical evidence.
They confirmed Friday evening that the body found in the east Orange neighborhood was Haggins's. Authorities accuse him of disposing of Haggins body in a shallow grave.
Police said while they can’t confirm Bruce's cause of death, investigators believe he was shot.
Earlier Friday, a mobile crime scene truck was out in front of a home on the street, and police only said they were there to look into "suspicious activity" related to a Winter Garden Police case.
"We got different tips and leads that there may be something out here related to an ongoing investigation in Winter Garden. So we're out here now investigating that to see if there's any information that's pertinent to what we're looking for," said Capt. Jason Pearson of the Winter Garden Police Department.
Winter Garden Police Chief Steve Graham said they don’t see this type of crime in their city.
“This is a rare occurrence, something of this magnitude. While I’ve only been here about three years, this is the first time anything like this has ever occurred in Winter Garden,” Graham said.
Graham said the Amber Alert generated tips that proved invaluable to finding Bruce's body and the car used to pick him up.
The teen's father Bruce Haggins Sr. said he feels a small sense of closure, but it’s not enough to erase the pain of a grieving father.
“Deep down inside it still hurts, and when you know that’s your only child, your only son, and the way that he got shot up ... it wasn’t right," he said.
Haggins Sr. said he is focused on making sure his son gets justice and wants the maximum prison time for anyone involved in his son’s death.
Police said they expect to make more arrests in the coming days.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article listed the name of the victim and his father as Bruce Hagans and Bruce Hagans Sr., respectively, in accordance to the Amber Alert and previous interviews with the Bruce Sr. Spectrum News 13 was informed by the father Friday that the correct spelling of their last name is Haggins. The story has been updated to reflect this.