It started out as a bizarre crash investigation after a man seemingly crashed his car off the side of Cypress Parkway in Poinciana on Friday night. Now, investigators believe the man behind the wheel was murdered.
Police got a call just before 8 p.m. that someone crashed their Gold Chrysler Sebring into a tree off Cypress Parkway. What they found was a 32-year-old man, critically wounded in a car he didn’t own, with wounds that didn’t come from the crash.
“The wounds weren’t consistent with the car crash, we are now looking at this as a homicide," said Twis Lizasuain with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
While they aren’t telling us how the man was killed, or who he is, investigators began combing the area searching for any clues that might tell them, how, why or who wanted this man dead.
For locals like Francisco Rodriguez who frequently visits the neighboring park with his football team, this murder has him on edge.
“Knowing something has happened like that it really makes me think twice about running around her by myself,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just crazy that this could happen in this small town you know?”
While investigators search through surveillance tape and other evidence gathered at the scene they are asking anyone who knows anything to please come forward.
Investigators are asking anyone who saw the gold Chrysler Sebring or was in the area of Vance Harmon Park between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday to call the Osceola County Sheriff's Office at 407-348-2222 or Crimeline at 800-423-8477. Calls made to Crimeline remain anonymous, and tips that lead to the felony arrest of suspects and are eligible for cash rewards of up to $5,000.