MOUNT DORA, Fla. – A reward for information is being offered in a homicide investigation of a husband and wife found dead at a Mount Dora senior living community over the weekend, according to police.
Mount Dora interim police Chief Mike Gibson said there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the deaths of the 83-year-old man and 80-year-old woman. Police have not released the names of the two but said they were residents at the community.
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The Mount Dora Police Department said officers responded to Waterman Village around 4 p.m. on Saturday after receiving a report of potential suspicious activity. The department did not give information on how the man and woman were killed, but Gibson said it is “purely a homicide investigation.”
“We’re moving, this case is fast-moving. I feel very confident that we’re going to have a successful conclusion,” he said during a town hall meeting on Monday.
Gibson said people may have seen or heard something and are asked to report any information that may help in the investigation.
“The most insignificant piece of information that someone may have seen over the last couple of days, the most insignificant piece of information, may be a primary, may be the center point in a wheel, right? It may be the thing that holds the wheel together,” he said.
Mayor Crissy Stile reiterated to residents there is “no need to feel unsafe in our city.”
“There is no need to feel like you should have to watch your back. You’re as safe as you were two, three days ago, two weeks ago,” she said. “This is, as we met with the folks at Waterman Village this morning, this is something that doesn’t normally happen in our city so we are still safe.”
Nearby residents showed up to Monday’s town hall to listen, ask questions and hear from police about the crime, which Gibson called “heinous.”
“That is why I came to see. Has there been any other crimes or something like that?” resident Chris Gouldin asked.
“I live about a mile from Waterman (Village),” former Mount Dora Mayor Melissa DeMarco said. “I have friends that are in Waterman, so I’m just invested as a resident.”
Gibson said the names of the victims would be released after meeting with the children of the couple on Monday afternoon.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 352-735-7130 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS to remain anonymous.
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