Police Investigate Death Of Elderly Man Found Inside Miami Home
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Police are appealing for the public's help after a woman discovers her father's body inside his home Wednesday morning and detectives rule the death was a homicide.
Neighbors tell CBS4's Peter D'Oench that the victim who they knew as "Humberto" was in his 90s and had lived at the home in the Silver Bluff Estates community at 2345 S.W. 22nd Terrace near Coral Way for decades. They also said he loved cats and dogs and working on cars and they had no idea why anyone would have taken his life.
Police say it is not known when his life was taken.
Miami Police Commander Freddie Cruz said "Earlier this morning around 9 am the daughter of the victim came to check on her father and discovered his lifeless body. She called 911 and officers did arrive. As you can see it is an active scene. It is a puzzle that we are trying to piece together. We can confirm in this investigation that this is a homicide."
Neighbors said they were worried in part because they did not know if the crime was random or why the victim was targeted.
Neighbor Priscilla Neves said, "Now I am afraid. I don't know what happened. This area is calm."
Longtime resident Rita Ramirez said, "I don't know what happened. I don't know really. He was always working and saying hello to everybody. He was a good neighbor. I do not know the motive. He liked cats and dogs and I think his hobby was cars. I am afraid. He lived here for many many years. The last time I saw him was Friday."
Ramirez said she noticed very unusual.
"Yesterday after a while after I was working I saw a big car that was different with 3 people inside it. It was unusual for this neighborhood and was going very very slow. I could tell they were looking for something."
Commander Freddie Cruz appeals for the public's help.
"We are asking that anyone with information please contact us or call 911 immediately," said Cruz. "We need the person or persons responsible for this horrific crime behind bars immediately."
"There are various cameras and ring cameras and surveillance," he said. "Again we are looking for witnesses. It's 9 am in a residential neighborhood in a quiet area. A lot of people are working from home. So we are trying to see if anyone knows anything, if anyone has any information, just a little bit of evidence would help. It could help us out to catch the person responsible."
Police say anyone with information should call them or 911 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $3,000.
