A trucking organization is calling for better protection for drivers after a Florida truck driver was found dead in Georgia.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A trucking organization is calling for better protection for drivers after a Florida truck driver was found dead in Georgia.

Alejandro Gonzalez went missing on April 17, 2026. He was working for a Miami-based company that hauls cars. According to the FBI, Gonzalez picked up a load of cars from the Port of Brunswick in Georgia on April 16 and headed south for Miami.

Investigators said Gonzalez pulled into a rest area off I-95 in Brevard County, Florida, around 1 a.m. on April 17. The GPS in his truck then showed the truck leaving the rest area just before 8 a.m. that same day and heading north towards Jacksonville. The FBI said that soon after, Gonzalez became unreachable.

His truck was found in Port Wentworth, Georgia, on April 17. Gonzalez was not with his truck, and some of the cars he was hauling were missing.

On Wednesday, the FBI announced that Gonzalez’s body was found somewhere along the coast of Glynn County, Georgia. The FBI would not confirm where or when exactly he was found.

Ernesto Gutierrez, president and CEO of the Professional Trucking Association Group, said Gonzalez’s death has shaken the industry.

“It could happen to anybody, and it has,” Guiterrez said. “It’s really sad, and condolences out to his family. It’s just heartbreaking.”

Gutierrez was a truck driver for almost 20 years. He said cargo theft has become a greater issue within the trucking industry.

“Trucking is a very, very dangerous occupation. It’s a very tough lifestyle. And right now, the FMCSA is trying to tackle freight fraud and corruption and a lot of the other stuff that’s going on in the background in the trucking industry,” Gutierrez explained.

The FBI has not released any further details about this case, but they did confirm that three of the missing cars were found in Florida.

Gutierrez believes more must be done to protect truck drivers, including the possibility of letting drivers carry weapons.

“It’s gotta be a collective effort. It’s gotta be an effort from not only truck drivers or the trucking industry, but the motoring public. There are just so many eyes and ears traveling up and down our highways. It doesn’t make any sense how a truck driver that’s traveling alongside millions of cars daily could have something like this happen,” Gutierrez said.

Anyone with any information about what happened to Gonzalez should contact the FBI’s toll-free tip line 1-800-CALL FBI (225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.