TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

'Violent Death' Of Sarasota Woman Stumps Police

ADVERTISEMENT

Todd Ruger / Sarasota Herald Tribune

Published: December 4, 2007

Previous Coverage: Woman's Body Found In Holmes Beach Woods

HOLMES BEACH - Investigators know Carla A. Beard left a residential drug rehabilitation center in Sarasota on Nov. 26 and that she died of blunt trauma to the head about two days later on Anna Maria Island.

Carla Beard

As a first step to catch her killer, detectives are trying to piece together a timeline of who was with the 29-year-old after she left the center and how she got to the Holmes Beach neighborhood.

Beard's decomposing, partially nude body was found this weekend, days after her death, giving investigators a slow start on the investigation into how she ended up about 100 feet from the Gulf of Mexico.

Holmes Beach Police Chief Jay Romine sent her photo to the media in the hope that someone saw her in a cab, on a bus or "anywhere from last Monday to Wednesday night."

A medical examiner's report puts the time of death at sometime Wednesday night. There is no evidence Beard was killed elsewhere and then dumped in the quiet neighborhood, Romine said.

"It's no question it was a violent death," Romine said. "We don't have a weapon."

People renting a house for a weekend party found the body while investigating an odor in pine trees behind the home, near Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, Romine said.

Relatives of the Sarasota woman did not return calls Monday.

A spokesman for First Step of Sarasota, the drug treatment program, declined to comment, citing concerns about the dead woman's privacy.

Anyone with information should contact the Holmes Beach Police Department at (941) 708-5804 or Manatee County Crime Stoppers at (866) 634-8477.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT