VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A woman who disappeared in Volusia County advertised herself in the newspaper as a "girlfriend next door," and the man who answered that ad was arrested for her murder, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
After an autopsy performed Thursday morning, the Volusia County Medical Examiner has determined that the cause of death for Danielle Santangelo was bleeding due to a laceration across her neck.
SUSPECT'S FAMILY TALKS: Mom | Sister (explicit) RAW INTERVIEW: Neighbor Talks To WFTV AT THE SCENE: Images Of Woman's Car DOCUMENT: Willie Hicks' Arrest Report CRIME REPORTS: Map Crimes In Your Neighborhood
It isn't clear what 34-year-old Santangelo's ad meant; if it was an escort service, or just a date. However, her body was found in a car near her accused killer's apartment on Darchelle Court and Cherry Street (see map) in DeLand on Wednesday, just days after she was reported missing in Port Orange.
Santangelo disappeared Monday and officers began searching for her Wednesday. Phone records led investigators to suspect, 32-year-old Willie Hicks' apartment. Investigators searched his home and spent all night sifting through ashes in the burn barrel in the backyard.
Hicks faced a judge Thursday. He is accused of killing Santangelo after allegedly answering her ad in the newspaper. She met Hicks for the first time Monday, investigators believe, and she never came back from that meeting.
"My son did not kill nobody, nobody," Hicks' mother Rose said (raw mother | sister (explicit)).
Rose Hicks defended her son, even though investigators said she was the one who led them to where Santangelo's car was abandoned in the woods. They said she also heard the groans of a female in pain, coming from Hicks' locked apartment.
"What about the moaning. Did you tell them there was a woman moaning in the apartment?" WFTV reporter Steve Barrett asked Rose.
"No," she replied.
Investigators also said Hicks saw her son carrying bloody clothes to a burn barrel in the backyard.
"That's my barrel right there. We burn wood in that barrel. We burn rags in that barrel," she said.
Hicks has a criminal history that includes the sale of cocaine and robbery (arrest report) .
He was at his home when investigators showed up and went with them willingly, but denied knowing Santangelo or having sex with her.
"Why would they come here yesterday? Somebody had to send them here for them to come here," Barrett asked Hicks' sister Tina.
"If my brother did something, you think he's gonna be sitting in the yard playing cards and drinking beer?" Tina asked.
Santangelo did not have a criminal record.
Previous Stories: November 11, 2010: Cops: Suspect's Mom Heard "Moans Of A Woman In Pain" November 11, 2010: Body Found In Car Could Be Missing Port Orange Woman November 10, 2010: Police Looking For Missing Port Orange Woman
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