ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Investigators with the Orange County Sheriff's Office have confirmed that a body found in a burning Apopka home is that of a missing man from Winter Garden.
Authorities announced the connection between the two cases Friday night.
The man's body was found after firefighters responded to a house fire on Radiant Circle early Thursday morning. After the fire was extinguished, the body of Frank Wright Sr., 65, was found in a car in the garage of the home.
Orange County deputies told WFTV they believe Wright Sr. may have been forced from his home. According to investigators, Wright Sr. left his Winter Garden home on Wednesday to go fishing and was reported missing by his family the same day after they couldn't reach him.
Deputies said that the condition Wright Sr.'s house was left in led them to believe that something bad may have happened to him.
The family's pastor and spokesperson Wendell Anderson told Eyewitness News they have no idea who would do this to Wright Sr.
"When you think about Mr. Wright and his character, loving, kind and would do anything for anybody... I can't see him having any enemies that would want to do this," Anderson said.
Wright Sr.'s neighbor, Alphaiy Rutland, said she has known him for years and knows when he goes fishing because she sometimes buys what he catches.
"It's unusual for him to be gone that long," she said. "He never done anything like that. There is something criminal taking place."
On Friday, the medical examiner was able to determine the body found in the burning home was Wright Sr., deputies said.
Wright Sr.'s gray Ford F-150, boat and boat trailer were also initially reported missing. Deputies said the truck, boat and trailer were found abandoned in Winter Park on Friday.
'There is somebody else or something else that's involved in this particular case,'" Jeff Williamson of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
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WFTV
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