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PHIL DAVISThe body, wearing only one sock, was found Sunday in woods near a plywood shack. Deputies think the man lived there.
HUDSON - Jeff and Dan Cannon sometimes find old cemeteries as they prowl the woods in search of historical sites from the early days of Pasco County.
On Sunday, they found a corpse.
And this mystery is a modern one. Pasco County sheriff's deputies think the man found in the woods near U.S. 19 and Sea Pines Drive had been dead for two to three weeks.
"There were no signs of foul play at the scene," sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said. "We have an idea of who it might be, but we are still trying to make a positive ID."
Tobin said detectives think the dead man is William A. Whyley, 61. They think he was living nearby in a ramshackle camp about 50 yards from where the body was found. Anyone with information about Whyley or any other person living at the camp is asked to call Detective Jim Medley at 1-800-854-2862, ext. 5011.
The man's death, while not suspicious, is mysterious.
He was nude except for a sock on his right foot. Deputies found another sock down the road and a green sweat shirt not too far from the body. His right hand was outstretched, clenching the dirt. The left was folded under the body "as if he were holding onto his chest," the sheriff's report said.
The body lay face-down, barely shielded from view by tall grass on a small rise.
The area is popular with all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts and late-night partiers. The Cannons found a campfire and an empty beer case within 50 yards of the body Sunday.
The Cannons walked right by the the body the first time, noticing a bad smell but attributing it to a dead animal. Their return path led them right to the dead man.
"As we came up over the hill, I thought it was a dead deer at first," Jeff Cannon said. "And then when I realized what it was, I was like, "Oh my God, it's a dead body."'
The father and son amateur historians used a cell phone to call 911 and directed deputies to the body.
A few people told deputies they'd seen the shack, but not the occupant.
A man who regularly goes into woods to fish told deputies he found a fairly clean mattress in the woods nearby. When he saw the camp, he dragged the bed over to the camp and left it for the man he had never seen.
Whoever lived there used debris from the area to fashion a plywood shack, complete with mattress and plastic sheeting to keep the water out. Toilet paper and other items susceptible to moisture were zipped up in plastic bags.
The camp is close to a pond, which doesn't look too bad from a distance. Close up, cement blocks, old car parts and a newspaper box are visible just below the surface.
Two lawn chairs and a bike sat outside the shack along with several loads of laundry in a plastic basket. There were signs of a fairly recent supply run, including bread, nacho chips, peanut butter and pudding that promised to taste "like someone loves you."
Much of the food was still in grocery bags.
The Cannons were so rattled by the discovery that they got lost trying to find their way out of the woods to flag down deputies.
And they never did track down the old Florida homestead they set out to find.
"That kind of ended the day for us," Dan Cannon said.
--Phil Davis can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is pdavis@sptimes.com