KEY LARGO, Fla. — Authorities in the Florida Keys announced the identification of human remains related to an unsolved case from the 1980s.

According to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the department’s Major Crimes Unit detectives, along with investigators from Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Monroe County Medical Examiner Office identified the remains of a previously unidentified Black man who was found on May 4, 1988 off County Road 905 in north Key Largo.

Deputies said the remains have been confirmed as Alfonso James Spikes, 61, of Miami.

According to authorities, Spikes is believed to have last been seen in April 1988 in Miami after leaving his home to meet with someone, though deputies said they do not know who that person was nor do they know the circumstances of how Spikes ended up in the Keys.

Deputies said his body was found covered in trash and wrapped in several bedsheets, with his shirt pulled forward over his head.

The Monroe County Medical Examiner said the body was in “advanced decomposition with partial skeletonization” and ruled the cause and manner of death as undetermined, but a “probable homicide.”

According to authorities, DNA samples submitted in 2023 and 2025 led to the March 2026 discovery that the sample confirmed the identity of Spikes.

Anyone with information on this open investigation is urged to contact the MCSO Major Crimes Unit at 305-289-2410.

Authorities ID Key Largo remains as Miami man who vanished in 1988

Found covered in trash, wrapped in sheets, he was likely a homicide victim, deputies say

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David Dwork