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In Bartow, Florida, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has joined forces with the Bartow Police Department to delve into the mysterious death of 56-year-old Jeffrey Lee Blevins.
Residents of the neighborhood express a blend of sympathy for the grieving family and disbelief at such an event unfolding so close to their homes. They remain hopeful that authorities will swiftly resolve the case.
“It’s absolutely shocking to hear of something like this occurring,” remarked Cassie Hightower.
“This is Bartow, not a big city like Orlando or Tampa,” Joseph Hightower added. “It’s a small town, and you don’t expect things like this to happen here, but clearly, they can.”
Locals were awakened to an unusual scene with K9 units combing through their backyards, deputies encircling their properties, and even dive teams actively searching the area.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s office, 56-year-old Jeffrey Blevins was speaking to his mother on the phone at around 11 pm last night. During that phone call, she heard him drop to the ground.
“She hung up, called the sister who, they live together the brother and sister, asked her to go check on him, and when the sister found him outside on the ground, bleeding, called 911,” Chief Stephen Walker of the Bartow Police Department said.
“She saw him in a pool of blood,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The Bartow Police Department attempted to perform life-saving measures, but close to midnight, the victim was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
“We’re still trying to figure out, you know, what actually happened. So we’re working the evidence, and we’ll go from there and take it where it leads us,” Chief Walker said.
When asked about a suspect or a motive, law enforcement said they can’t provide details about that at this time.
Cassie and Joseph Hightower said they ran into the victim in the past.
“When we did meet him, he was like friendly. He was grilling, you know, said, ‘hey, if you want to bite, you can have a bite’ type thing,” Cassie Hightower said.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Bartow Police Department mentioned the victim did have a prior arrest.
“He had a prior, domestic violence arrest from pretty far back, and then he had a recent issue with a driving while license suspended,” Chier Walker said.
For now, law enforcement continues to investigate, and they ask anyone with information to please contact them.