Fishermen in Florida Reel in 2 Rifles and a Human Body in 2 Separate Outings

A picture of a Barrett .50 sniper rifle and ammo.
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Once police arrived, the person that was found was identified as a 40-year-old man who had lived in the area and recently returned. Police said the body looked as if it had been in the water for 1-2 days, a report said.

A Florida man and his 11-year-old grandson out for a day of fishing caught two 50-caliber Barrett sniper riles out of a canal near Miami. Meanwhile, two fishermen in a lake in central Florida unexpectedly reeled in a human body, according to published news reports.

In both cases, police were called to the scene.

Duane Smith, 61, said he went magnet fishing with his grandson after seeing a video on it. He said after he dropped a 5-pound magnet in the C-102 canal in southern Miami-Dade County he “ended up with two pounds of scrap metal and 40 pounds of gun,” Smith told the Miami Herald

The guns were not loaded, however, Smith, a former Army infantry officer noticed that the serial numbers on the lower receiver of the weapons and the bolt of one of the rifles were filed off, CBS News reported. 

Smith contacted Miami-Dade police after the bizarre incident. 

Detective Christopher Thomas said the rifles were wrapped in plastic and after the corrosion was wiped away, he did not think the guns had been in the water very long, The Herald reported. 

“It looked like it was something that someone would want to come back for,” said Thomas, who said it will take some time to determine if the weapons were used in a crime, and that they were sent off to a forensic lab for processing, CBS reported.

In the meantime, two fishermen in central Florida were casting their lines from a grassy bank near downtown Auburndale when one of the men hooked something that seemed way larger than a fish.

It turned out to be a human body. 

Once police arrived, the person that was found was identified as a 40-year-old man who had lived in the area and recently returned. Police said the body looked as if it had been in the water for 1-2 days, CBS reported.

The Auburndale Police Department said the body did not show any “obvious signs of trauma,” and that an autopsy is pending, a report said. 

The Auburndale Police Department was unavailable when Inside Edition Digital contacted them to find out the man's identity and if the case warranted a criminal investigation.

When Inside Edition Digital contacted the Polk County Medical Examiner's office for the man's autopsy results they were told the chief medical examiner was out until next week. 

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