Tallahassee Police Department on Wednesday identified the victim, whose body was found in a Baker Landfill Saturday, as Jorge Diaz-Johnston, the brother of former Miami Mayor and Florida Democratic Party Chairman, Manny Diaz. He is also the uncle to former Miami Hurricanes football coach Manny Diaz, Jr.

The 54-year-old Jorge Diaz-Johnston had been last seen alive on January 3 in the 2800 block of Remington Green Circle near his workplace, Tallahassee Police officials said.

Diaz Missing for Five Days

Authorities reported Diaz-Johnston missing five days later on Saturday, January 8. That same morning, workers found Diaz-Johnston's remains were discovered at the Springhill Landfill in Campbellton.

The body was discovered in a trash pile, which came from a public area at the Baker landfill. The pile is only two hours away from where Diaz-Johnston was last seen, according to the statement released to the public. 

Diaz-Johnston is a former doctoral student of religion at Florida State University.

Manny Diaz released a statement in which he expressed his gratitude for the outpouring of support in the wake of his brother's death and requested solitude as well as prayers.

"My brother Jorge was such a beautiful gift to this world," he continued, "whose heart and legacy will carry on for decades to come."

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Probe on Diaz's Death Continues

The former mayor is also appreciative of the Tallahassee Police Department, which has worked tirelessly to locate and investigate his brother's disappearance with the help of Mayor Dailey and City Manager Goad.

In part of a historic lawsuit, Diaz-Johnston was a petitioner that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Miami-Dade County.

The complaint was filed in 2014 after the victim and his husband, Don Diaz-Johnston, and five other same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses by the county clerk's office.

Judge Sarah Zabel of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court ruled in favor of the couple in June.

While there was a short arrangement in the lawsuit, it was lifted many months later, eliciting celebrations from Jorge, his husband, and the other couples.

In early 2015, a federal judge overturned Florida's same-sex marriage ban, making it the 36th state to allow queer couples to marry. On March 28, 2015, Jorge and Don married.

Stratton Pollitzer, the longtime deputy director of Equality Florida, the state's leading gay-rights organization, said that Jorge was a crucial piece of the historic lawsuit, which is one of the most significant events in the LGBTQ civil rights movement in Florida history.

Tallahassee Police Department has not disclosed how or where Diaz-Johnston died, as well as how his body wound up in Baker and Campbellton.

However, investigators have stated that the case is being treated as a homicide.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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