2 men discover partially buried body near Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A body found in a remote area in Levy County is believed to be that of missing University of Florida student Christian Aguilar.

In the stillness of this place, deep within 30,000 acres a body was found. "It's not something that I would ever want to walk up on or something like that," said one of the young men who found the body, "but God sent us there for a reason." Two hunters found the body of a young man Friday, and in doing so, may have provided solace to the grieving family of the missing University of Florida student, Christian Aguilar.

One of the hunters, who asked not to be identified, spoke to 7News by phone. He and his brother-in-law trudged through the woods west of Gainesville, looking for jasmine when they smelled death. "We followed the smell, and when we got to wherever the smell was coming from, we realized that it wasn't an animal. It was a human body. It was faced down in the dirt. My brother-in-law said, 'Is that a human skull?', and I said I believed it was."

Also in the dirt, clothing matching those worn by Christian when he was last seen on him Sept. 20. The hunter said the body was only partially buried.

"We, as a family, believe that Christian's body has been found, and our prayers have been heard," said Carlos Aguilar.

Hunters call the area where the body was found a little rocky because, they say, there's a relatively thin layer of soil before you start to hit rock. They said, it would be virtually impossible to bury anything out there very deep.

Eighteen-year-old Pedro Bravo remains in the Alachua County Jail charged with murder and kidnapping.

Sunday morning, the Aguilar family along with friends and supporters, including Patrick Sessions, gathered at the scene. "It was a blessing, they look at it that way," said Sessions.

Sessions' daughter Tiffany vanished from Gainesville 23 years ago. Her body was never found. Now, he and Christian's father have formed a bond. "He just said it," said Sessions. "'At least now I don't have to ride down every road and look down every dirt road and everywhere I ride thinking about, did I look there?' and that kind of thing. We put a wreath out there and said some prayers. We spent a lot of time out there and a lot of it just talking and talking about Christian."

Sessions said, Aguilar is forever thankful for the two men looking for jasmine out there on a Friday afternoon. "I just hope the family gets the closure that they want," said one of the hunters. "I think I was ready to get home to my family after that."

It is still not official that the body found is that of Christian Aguilar. The family is hoping that they'll at least get a positive identification on the body very soon, as well as results of an autopsy.

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