The body of a man who went missing earlier this month was found by troopers who responded to a car accident in Florida, authorities said.
The remains have been identified as belonging to 25-year-old Brian Trotter, who was found deceased in the trunk of a Virginia man’s car. That man was involved in the car accident on a Miami highway, according to a police report obtained by the Tampa Bays Times.
Miami-Dade Police Department deputies arrested the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Robert Deupree Avery Coltrain. He has been charged with illegal transport of human remains and second-degree murder. He was booked into a Miami-Dade jail Monday afternoon, police said.
Florida Highway Patrol initially responded to the accident on the Palmetto Expressway on the afternoon of Oct. 25 and located Coltrain and his car.
According to the report, the patrol team became suspicious after they towed the vehicle to a nearby parking lot to start an investigation into the accident. Coltrain reportedly asked troopers if he could remove his belongings from the car, which included a gun case. Troopers also smelled the stench of rotting flesh coming from the vehicle and insects flying around it.
After the officials opened the car’s trunk, they found human remains “wrapped in a piece of fabric and in an advanced stage of decomposition,” Miami-Dade Detective Omar Manresa said.
Following an autopsy, the Miami-Dade medical examiner concluded that Trotter died of multiple gunshot wounds to the upper part of his body.
Trotter and Coltrain were reportedly long-time friends of over ten years. The victim was pursuing a music career to become a rapper, The Tampa Bays Times reported. His artist name was “Kent Won’t Stop.”
The victim was last seen when he left his home on Oct. 17 to travel to Washington D.C. together with Coltrain for “taking photographs,” police said at the time of the missing person report.
When he didn’t return home, Trotter’s family filed a missing person report and repeatedly contacted Coltrain, who told them he dropped him in Washington and another friend later picked him up.
Missing Black male Brian Trotter from Triangle VA. There’s a search planned for 10/24: pic.twitter.com/ia4B9b04bf
— #socialjusticenerd (@BreRVA) October 23, 2020
When police announced Coltrain as a suspect in the homicide case, the victim’s father told the network he hopes the investigation can “shed a light on what made a friend of over 10 years decide to commit something like that.”
It’s unclear whether Coltrain has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
