{"id":226775,"date":"2026-04-10T20:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/226775\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T20:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:29:08","slug":"police-investigate-death-of-missing-man-with-high-functioning-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/226775\/","title":{"rendered":"Police investigate death of missing man with high-functioning autism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014 Police in Port St. Lucie are investigating the death of a man who was reported missing earlier on Friday but had not been seen for two days. <\/p>\n<p>Investigators said the man, Alexander Joseph Solma, 32, had high-functioning autism and was last seen on Wednesday at approximately 4 p.m. near his home in the 900 block of Southwest Aurelia Ave. <\/p>\n<p>Police said Solma was known to wander and often walked along the C-23 canal banks.<\/p>\n<p>His family told police that Solma had left the residence before, but typically not longer than 6-8 hours. According to police, his family&#8217;s concerns grew when the man&#8217;s cellphone was found at home, as well as the length of time he was gone. <\/p>\n<p>The Solma family relocated to Port St. Lucie from New York two years ago and told police they believed the time to report an individual missing was 72 hours.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were under the impression Florida has the same reporting standard; however, this is inaccurate as there is zero wait time required in either state,&#8221; police said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Police said just before 11 a.m. Friday, Solma was found dead in the 600 block of Southwest Belmont Circle.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Alexander Solma during this incredibly difficult time,&#8221; Port St. Lucie Public Information Officer Brittany McNally said. &#8220;We are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and subsequent death. We also urge community members to remember that there is no waiting period to report a missing person, especially when they are considered endangered.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Police said they are actively investigating the case, and we are waiting for further confirmation from the medical examiner&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Solma between Wednesday evening and Friday morning is urged to contact the Port St. Lucie Police Department at (772) 871-5000 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014 Police in Port St. Lucie are investigating the death of a man who&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[102154,102169,171,173,172,1402],"class_list":{"0":"post-226775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-alexander-joseph-solma","9":"tag-missing-man-found-dead","10":"tag-port-st-lucie","11":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","12":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","13":"tag-st-lucie-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}