‘Turn him in. Man up': Family, friends plead for surrender of daughter's killer

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Monday night, Wyatt Davis got the phone call every parent dreads.

“I'm pissed off, to be honest with you. I'm past hurt," Davis said Thursday about the loss of his daughter. "It hurts so much to lose a person like that."

The body of 32-year-old Dianna Kessler was found Monday night in a home in Port Orange. Police say a friend hers, 37-year-old Thomas McMullen, is the suspect. McMullen is not in custody.

"I don't know what else to say except I know there's people out there who know where he is in this community -- and they're looking out for him," Davis said.

Investigators said they connected Kessler to McMullen after a family friend found her body at the home of the suspect’s parents, who were out of town at the time.

Read: 'She was in a fight for her life': Woman was stabbed more than 100 times, police say

“There’s somebody on the kitchen on the floor. There’s blood all over them,” the 911 caller told police Monday.

“I’m sure she got loose from him and made it to that kitchen. And I’m sure he might even have a few wounds of his own,” Davis said Thursday.

Daytona Beach police found Kessler’s 1998 Buick Regal abandoned off International Speedway Boulevard – 9 miles from the crime scene – the day after Kessler was found.

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"I really hope this is brought to an end soon because she was also a mother," said Davis. Kessler leaves behind a 7-year-old son.

Police said the motive for the killing remains unclear.

“She was more like a sister,” said Kessler’s friend Megan Stackpoole. “You could talk to her about anything and she would put a positive light on it. She would make you laugh.”

Previously, McMullen has served time in prison on a drug charge.

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