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Miami Beach Police Make "Significant Progress" In Luxury Condo Murder Investigation

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Beach police may be close to finding the person they believe killed a man in his luxury condo.

They discovered the man at 1:30 Wednesday afternoon at the complex on Purdy Avenue.

The people who live and enjoy the small but bustling neighborhood surrounding the building were shocked to hear about the murder.

The lux waterfront condo is next to the Venetian Causeway, a marina and dozens of new, busy shops and restaurants.

"This is a very quiet building," Cheryl Hochberg said.

She told CBS4 Reporter Donna Rapado her daughter lived on the 12th floor, the same floor where the man was murdered.

"Nobody here gets into trouble or anything like that.  And the whole area is such a great quiet area," she added.

"It's definitely surprising.  Not something you would expect in this area," said Sunita Bahagwan, who lives on the five floors below with her two small children and her husband.

Police were keeping details of the murder close to the vest Thursday night.

But people living in the building told Rapado they could smell the stench of decomposition. The man's body lay dead in his condo four or five days.

Almost 36 hours after the discovery, three crime scene vans returned to the building – a possible sign of what neighbors heard was a very bad scene.

"I got an email this morning from the building management saying there was an incident, that there was a death," explained Robert Fishman who lived on the 20th floor. "They didn't want the residents to be too concerned and the building was safe. When I read the email it was definitely concerning."

"I think everyone is a little bit in shock right now and they're kind of processing everything," said Bahagwan.

Miami Beach police have not released the victim's name nor have they said how he died.

They did tell CBS4 they have "made significant progress in the investigation," although they haven't yet arrested the person they suspect.

They were not releasing the suspect's information either to avoid "hindering the investigation."

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