Polk County deputies are investigating the death of a man who was shot at least 25 times and stabbed 13 times.

The body of Curtis Patrick Chancey, 36, was found this week north of Bulger Nursery near Mulberry, in a pit filled with water, Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Chancey has been missing since Jan. 14.

Investigators have taken into custody and questioned a laborer at the nursery, Mike Hinson, 35, who is connected to the crime, Judd said. Hinson has not been charged in Chancey's killing.

Hinson has been in the Polk County Jail since Jan. 29, after he was arrested for two counts of armed trespass and one count of resisting arrest without violence, Judd said.

Chancey, of 6428 Farris Drive, Lakeland, would occasionally hang out at the nursery because he was friends with owner Mike Bulger Jr., investigators said.

Chancey was reported missing by his brother on Jan. 26. He was last seen at Bulger's Nursery, 2771 Cozart Road, Mulberry, about 5:00 pm on Jan. 14.

The victim's girlfriend, Christina Oldaker, last heard from Chancey about 6 p.m. that day, Judd said. Chancey called Oldaker from the nursery, asking for a ride. When she arrived, he was not there.

Hinson appeared at the front gate and told Oldaker he doesn't know where Chancey is and offered to help her look for him on the 150-acre nursery, Judd said.

Detectives then searched the nursery for three more days. On Feb. 11, investigators received tips that Chancey was killed and his body thrown into a water-filled ditch.

Deputies and police dogs found Chancey's body in an advanced state of decomposition on Wednesday outside the nursery's grounds, Judd said.

Lab results from evidence at the crime scene are expected to be completed in about a week