DEEP CREEK, Fla. - Human remains have been found in a wooded area in the Deep Creek area of Charlotte County. It is a story you saw first on WINK News.com.

The discovery was made Sunday afternoon by search teams who were looking for a Marine who's been missing for several weeks.

About 200 feet off Sulstone Drive sits a drainage field.

A veteran who had been helping the family of Eric Hall search for the Marine was looking in the area and smelled a foul odor. The odor was coming from a drain sitting in a small culvert.

A body was discovered in the drain, at this point, no one can say that the body is Eric Hall's.

Some people suspect Hall climbed through this small opening of a drainage pipe. The person climbed a considerable distance though the pipe. Talking to WINK News, Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Lt. Ricky Hobbs said, "We had to excavate the pipe about ten feet under ground and then actually open the pipe up."

That is when the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office knew for sure they were dealing with human remains.

Earlier in the day a volunteer war veteran went searching for Eric Hall when he smelled what is described as a terrible foul odor.

"When he had his buddy taken out next to him and he had half of his leg gone, it's hard to deal with," John Kalena is one of the veterans who was searching for the missing solider.

Some people, including Kalena, believe Hall was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and may have thought he was running from Iraqi soldiers.

Kalena is a Vietnam war veteran and says he knows what hall could be going through. "He's got to deal with this the rest of his life and a lot people don't understand what he's going through," says Kalena.

The medical examiner has removed the remains from the drainage pipe. Authorities tell WINK News it could be quite some time before a positive identification is made on the body.

Kalena hopes the body is not Hall's, "I hope that it's not him and I hope that he's still alive for his mother's sake."

WINK News did attempt to speak with the family of Eric Hall. The family did not wish to speak with the media Sunday evening. WINK News respected their wishes.