LAKELAND, Fla. - The Sumter County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of David Anthony Gracia, 19, of Lakeland, Florida for the 1st Degree Premed
LAKELAND, Fla. – The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of David Anthony Gracia, 19, of Lakeland, Florida for the 1st Degree Premeditated Murder of Charlie Roberts Jr.
The victim Charlie Roberts Jr. was last seen with the suspect in Lakeland, Florida on Tuesday, February 23rd. His family reported him missing soon after and his cell phone history ultimately led them to the Green Swamp Wildlife Management Area.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office began coordinated search efforts to locate Charlie Roberts Jr. in the Green Swamp WMA, a heavily wooded area located off of SR 471 in the southern portion of Sumter County. Green Swamp WMA encompasses over 50,000 acres throughout Sumter, Polk, and Lake Counties. Helicopters, ATVs, drones, and four-wheel-drive vehicles were deployed in order to search this isolated, densely wooded, and swampy area in addition to ground grid searches on foot.
On Wednesday, February 24th at approximately 6:00 PM, detectives conducting the grid search located the body of Charlie Roberts Jr. The preliminary cause of death was determined to be homicide by firearm. Detectives from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office began conducting interviews and following up on leads associated with the victim’s murder. On Thursday afternoon, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for David Anthony Gracia.
He was located in the Pinellas County Area and agreed to travel to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office in Bushnell and surrender himself to detectives.
He was booked into the Sumter County Detention Center where he is being held under a No Bond pending trial.
Detectives wish to convey that this is still an active case under investigation and anyone having information is asked to call the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (352)-569-1680 or Crimeline at 1-(800)-423-TIPS.
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