Lyft Driver With Philly Ties Who Went Missing in Florida Has Died, Daughter Says

A Lyft driver with Philadelphia ties who went missing while living in Florida has died, according to his daughter.

On Saturday, February 4, agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) discovered human remains in a wooded area in Okeechobee County, Florida. On Tuesday, the FDLE said they identified the body and notified family members. They did not reveal the victim's name however, referring to Florida's victim's rights law commonly known as Marsy's Law.

The body was discovered in the area where Gary Levin, 74, went missing on January 30. While she did not say whether the body found was that of her father, Levin's daughter, Lindsay DiBetta, revealed in a Facebook post on Tuesday that her father had died.

Levin was last seen alive on security cameras, police said, walking into a Wawa in Boynton Beach, Florida, on January 30.

Family members said Levin then picked up a customer in Delray Beach, Florida, that day. His red 2022 Kia Stinger was spotted in Miami that day, and then in a rural area north of Lake Okeechobee and later in north Florida, officials said.

The vehicle was then seen Thursday evening in North Carolina after the U.S. Marshal’s regional task force asked authorities to be on the lookout. Matthew Flores, a 35-year-old suspect in a slaying that occurred in Florida on Jan. 24, was spotted in the vehicle and then arrested following a police chase through three counties, Rutherford County, North Carolina Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg told The Associated Press.

Ellenburg said North Carolina state troopers used stop sticks to halt the vehicle in Ellenboro. The sheriff said Flores fled briefly on foot before he was apprehended and taken to a hospital for an evaluation. He was later booked into the county jail, and the vehicle was taken to a secure location, the sheriff said.

Flores, 35, was being held on no bond for a parole violation and a $615,000 bond for charges in North Carolina that include eluding law enforcement, speeding and intoxicated driving.

He appeared at a brief hearing in North Carolina where a judge set bail at $2 million and scheduled another hearing Feb. 22, according to news outlets. Flores would eventually be extradited to Florida, where he is a suspect in a slaying on Jan. 24 — nearly a week before Levin went missing on Jan. 30. It was not immediately known whether Flores has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.

Authorities are investigating how Flores obtained Levin's car. Levin’s family said they do not know whether Flores was the passenger Levin picked up in Delray Beach on Jan. 30. John Eason, the police chief in Wauchula, Florida, told The AP in a phone interview that officers are heading to North Carolina in hopes of interviewing Flores about the Jan. 24 killing and Levin's disappearance.

Flores is facing a second-degree murder charge and other counts stemming from the fatal shooting last month of Jose Carlos Martinez in Wauchula. A woman who Eason said assisted Flores in fleeing from police, Stephanie Velgara, will be charged with being an accessory after the fact in the Martinez killing.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Velgara has a lawyer to speak on her behalf. Eason said she remained in custody Friday in Florida’s Hardee County jail.

DiBetta previously told the AP the family has learned that Levin took an unknown customer to Okeechobee, a small city on the edge of Lake Okeechobee, and completed the ride sometime after 4 p.m. on Jan. 30.

She said the family was told by Lyft that the ride was completed sometime after 4 p.m. He also spoke to friends by phone around 4 p.m. that day and “all seemed well,” Dibetta said.

But almost immediately, something went wrong, she said. His phone was turned off and no one has heard from him since then.

“What happened to my dad? Did (Flores) harm my dad?” DiBetta said. “We just don’t know.”

Law enforcement officials later told NBC5 West Palm Beach, that human remains were found in Okeechobee County, Florida, on Saturday, not far from where Levin went missing.

A spokesperson for the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office told the station that the body was found early Saturday off Northeast 40th Terrace and State Road 70 in a wooded area near the Okeechobee County Agri-Civic Center in the northeast section of the city.

Levin had been living in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, but, NBC10 has learned that he was a lifelong resident of Philadelphia who had only moved to the Sunshine State a couple of years ago.

Levin grew up along McKinley Street in Mayfair. Later, he moved to Richboro in Bucks County where he raised his family and ran a business called, Gary Levin Wholesale.

Levin's son, John, told NBC10 their family tradition was following the Eagles. He said he talked to his father just last weekend about how much they were looking forward to watching the Super Bowl.

DiBetta said the Lyft gig was great for Levin, who loved telling dad jokes and often told them over and over. “It was the perfect set up for him. He would get a new audience every ride,” she said.

She said her father was an auto body salesman before retiring to Florida, and that his car “was his baby.”

In a statement Friday, the ride share company Lyft said that it is cooperating with law enforcement officials.

“Our thoughts are with Mr. Levin’s family and loved ones during this deeply concerning time. We’ve been in touch with his family to offer our support, as well as with law enforcement to assist with their investigation," said the company, in a statement.