September 11, 2015
Contributed Art/Facebook
Tyler Etue, 25, was recovering from a drug addiction when he left Medford Lakes, New Jersey, in July. Police in Lake Worth, Florida, are investigating his death as a homicide.
A New Jersey man who has been missing since July 31 was identified Friday after police in Lake Worth, Florida, discovered his body in a trash can Wednesday.
The victim, 25-year-old Tyler Etue, of Medford Lakes, reportedly left New Jersey in order to enter a detox program to overcome a drug addiction, according to NJ.com. Etue had been attending rehab after a recent relapse and planned to return briefly to New Jersey before getting a fresh start in Florida.
An autopsy conducted by the medical examiner's office in Lake Worth on Thursday determined that the cause of death was homicide, according to WPBF.
Etue was last seen at the 500 block of Second Avenue not far from the alleyway where his body was found. Earlier, he was dropped off at Lake Worth Square, a place he normally went to hand out, but later disappeared.
In May, during an interview with WPTV in Palm Beach County, Etue stated that he had been drug-free for 40 days. He spoke of the dangers of the drug Flakka, a synthetic stimulant similar to bath salts that can cause a condition called "excited delirium." Etue explained that hallucinations and strokes brought on by the drug nearly killed him.
According to Etue's Facebook page, he attended Shawnee High School in Medford, New Jersey, and worked as a sales and marketing agent in the area of computer virus protection and diagnostics. He and his girlfriend, Anna Anderson, were reportedly expecting a baby and had hoped he could turn his life around.
The homicide remains under investigation. Anyone with information relating to Etue's death is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
