FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Police have identified the body found by a high school criminology class investigating a fake crime scene in Fort Lauderdale.

Video | Images

Teacher Sue Messenger has been planting fake skeletons with bullet holes and other evidence at mock crime scenes for more than 20 years during her forensics courses. She says it gives her students a firsthand look at what crime scene investigators do.

But Monday's discovery proved to be stranger than fiction.

While at Fort Lauderdale's Holiday Park, 29 students from St. Thomas Aquinas High School found a real body.

"It was a good crash course," said student Juan Cantor, 15. "The first thing we thought was, 'That's a real good dummy she set up.'"

Police identified the man as 45-year-old David Bodie, a homeless man who apparently died of natural causes.