Remains found in shallow grave identified as missing Florida mom

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) --

Deputies are ruling 20-year-old Nyeisha Nelson's death a homicide after her remains were found in "a small and a shallow" grave off County Road 308.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office announced February 18 that Nelson's family reported her missing and no one had heard from her since February 11.

The family told deputies that she picked up her 5-year-old daughter February 10 and took her to school the next morning, but that was the last communication they had with her. A neighbor saw Nelson, a beloved hairdresser in the neighborhood, leave in her 2008 gray Honda Accord wearing a white t-shirt, gray shorts, and holding a purse.

On February 20, detectives discovered human remains in a wooded area near Crescent City, later identified as Nelson. Putnam County Col. Joseph Wells said in a press conference that their investigation showed there was a "likelihood that she knew the offender."

He said, "This was not a random act of stranger on stranger violence."

According to WJXT-TV, Nelson's car was found off Old U.S. 17, about four miles away from where she was found. Col. Wells called her vehicle a "key part" of their investigation.

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