Police release name of NFM homicide victim
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a woman found slumped behind the wheel of a pickup truck in a North Fort Myers parking lot Saturday.
The woman has been identified at Evelyn Bermudez, 49, of 4544 Auburn Ave., Fort Myers, said Sheriff’s Office spokes person Larry King.
The cause of death has not been released but an autopsy confirms it is a homicide, King said.
Meanwhile, detectives are searching for both a witness and a “person of interest.”
The witness, possibly a male, was seen walking through the Weaver’s Corner Shopping Center, 1830 N. Tamiami Trail, at shortly before the Sheriff’s Office received a call for medical assistance at 7:20 p.m. Saturday. The person walked past the red Nissan pickup truck where a woman’s body was found, King said.
Investigators are asking this person to come forward.
Surveillance photos also show a vehicle leaving the parking lot within minutes of the discovery of the victim. Detectives would like to identify, and talk to, the driver of the silver car, possibly a Pontiac Sunfire.
“The driver is a person of interest,” King said Sunday.
Anyone who can provide information on the driver of the vehicle is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers.
Law enforcement began investigating after the Lee County Sheriff’s Office received the medical assistance call to the parking lot and found, instead, a body. Witnesses told deputies the truck had rolled backward from a parking space in front of the U.S. Post Office, before coming to stop several feet away.
A woman was seen slumped over the wheel.
There were obvious signs of trauma, police said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Due to the nature of the incident, detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit are assigned to continue the investigation. Crime scene technicians are documenting and collecting potential evidence at the scene.
The District 21 Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Sunday. No details were released Sunday other than the death has been determined to be a homicide.
Anyone who knows the person or persons responsible for this crime or has additional information is asked to contact the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at (239) 477-1000 or, to remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward up to $1,000 dollars, Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).
Updates will be provided as new details are available for release, officials said.