Suspicious death reported in south Cape apartment

Jun 19, 2009 2 min read

A person was found dead early Thursday morning in a south Cape Coral

apartment complex, and police are calling the death suspicious.

The police tape surrounding the north building of Amherst Manor

Apartments did not surprise neighbors, who live in what has been called a

blighted section of the city. Police say they have been concentrating

crime prevention efforts in the area for over a year.

Forensics technicians shuffled in and out of the upstairs apartment

where the body was found at 4808 Atlantic Court, Unit

33, throughout the morning and early afternoon.

“There’s always arguing over there at night,” said Linda Hines, who has

lived across the street from the complex for three years.

Hines said she did not know the people who lived in Unit 33, but that

there were many late-night arguments on the stairs of the complex.

“It’s not surprising,” she said of the death, after witnessing the Cape

Coral SWAT Team respond to the complex in 2008.

Police have not yet identified the deceased person nor released other details

surrounding the death.

Officer Gerry Moll said the Cape Coral Police Department has been

working closely with the community to make the area more livable,

something they call the “Weed and Seed” program. Moll said the

department has applied for a federal grant for the program.

“There’s a lot of proactive community policing,” he said. “The area

needed care, and it still needs care.”

Moll called the suspicious death “very disappointing and discouraging.”