FL: Columbia County Sheriff’s Office: Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy found dead while on hunting trip

FL: Columbia County Sheriff’s Office: Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy found dead while on hunting trip

Florida deputy found dead while on hunting trip (wpbf.com)

10/31/2023

A deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was found dead in Columbia County.

According to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Sunday, a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was found dead from an apparent medical emergency and no signs of suspicious activity are linked to the death.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with this deputy’s family and co-workers,” Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter said in a statement Sunday. “I am proud of our deputies for partnering with other agencies and utilizing the resources available to them. They did not hesitate to exhaust every measure to find this individual so quickly and bring this family some closure.”

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to WPBF 25 News Monday evening that deputy sheriff Constantin Miclea died during the incident in Columbia County.

Courtesy: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to WPBF 25 News Monday that deputy sheriff Constantin Miclea died during a hunting trip in Columbia County, Florida the weekend of Oct. 28, 2023.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office noted Monday afternoon that Miclea began his law enforcement career with the city of Lake Work in 1996. When Lake Worth’s police department merged with Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Miclea worked for PBSO in road patrol and then court services.

“Please keep the Miclea family in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time,” the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on social media.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies received a well-being check call Saturday at 10 p.m. for an individual from Palm Beach County who was hunting in the county.

The wife of the individual who made the welfare check said she was unable to contact the individual.

The individual hunting was a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said it, along with personnel with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was involved in the search of the individual.

Cellular phone data led law enforcement officials to an area of a hunting stand.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said the individual’s truck was located in the area of Benton Tower. Then, the area where the truck was located was searched. That was when the individual’s body was discovered.

Columbia County in northeast Florida is about an hour’s drive west of the city of Jacksonville.

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