UPDATE: Body found in the backyard of 5802 State Road 60 E. in Plant City has been identified as Abraham Shakespeare.
A body has been discovered Thursday afternoon in the backyard at 5802 State Road 60 E. in Plant City — where police suspected the body of Lakeland resident and Florida State Lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare might be buried. Police have not identified the body.
Officials from University of South Florida’s Geology Department are supervising the dig performed by hand and using scientific equipment.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd addressed the media about the discovery Thursday night.
On Monday, a Lakeland police officer, Troy McKay Young, 42, was arrested by homicide detectives — charged with illegally passing information from law enforcement databases to Dee Dee Moore, whose boyfriend owns the home where the body was discovered. Moore met Young in August 2009 through a mutual acquaintance. Moore told detectives she was writing a book about Abraham Shakespeare and “wanted Young to corroborate as he was a police officer and his credibility was greater than others with whom she had spoken.” Dee Dee Moore is a person of interest in the case.