Local

Documents: Slain Altamonte Springs woman was stabbed, suffocated

Channel 9 obtained more details about the death of a 56-year-old Altamonte Springs woman who vanished from her boss’ Winter Park home in September.
A medical examiner said Fulford was stabbed and suffocated 20 miles from where she was abducted, but a motive remains unclear.
RELATED STORIES:
Three days after she disappeared, her body was found by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office helicopter in a wooded area near Fenton Street in Orange County.
According to documents, her injuries were so severe that even from the sky the pilot knew she was dead.
Her hands and feet were bound and her face duct taped.
Fulford, who worked for a family in Winter Park, was reported missing Sep. 27 after her boss received a call that she did not pick up his son from school.
Her purse was found on the floor of the Winter Park home, but her keys, wallet and cellphone were gone.
That same day, police released surveillance photos of Nelson at a Winter Park Wells Fargo ATM.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — %

INLINE

%

Records show he bought an Amtrak train ticket out of town 20 minutes later.
Fulford’s car was found at a Publix on Colonial Drive the day after she disappeared.
A comforter was found in her backseat and detectives believe her body was wrapped in it at some point.
A white towel and a T-shirt with blood on it were also found in the vehicle, both of which belonged to Nelson.
Police don’t believe Fulford and Nelson had met before she was killed.
According to the warrant, he was worried that she had witnessed his crime.
Shannon Butler

Shannon Butler, WFTV.com

Shannon joined the Eyewitness News team in 2013.