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Car Stolen From 1 Of 2 Slain Lakeland Men Found In Ocala

Polk County Sheriff's Office

Deputies want to talk to John Odom and Susan Marie Wallen.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 16, 2008

Updated: 06/16/2008 03:26 pm

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• Break In The Case

Henry Todd Bruder

Dion Travis White

TAMPA - The stolen car of Henry Todd Bruder, who was found tied up and shot to death Saturday morning at his Lakeland home, was located Sunday afternoon at an Ocala inn.

Bruder and his stepbrother were "brutally murdered," and warrants have been issued for a Lakeland woman and her boyfriend, who deputies say stole Bruder's 2005 Nissan Altima, a Polk County Sheriff's Office release states. Sheriff Grady Judd said those Lakeland residents also are considered suspects in the slayings.

"Certainly, they stole one of the dead men's vehicles and fled," Judd said. "We suspect that it's the result of a conflict over drugs, but we're being guarded with info at this time. Even though we know more than we're releasing to the news media, there's still a great deal of questions we're working on right now."

When Bruder, 30, did not show up for work at Advance Auto Parts, a co-worker went to his house and found him dead and his Altima missing. Detectives wanted to talk to Bruder's stepbrother, 42-year-old Dion Travis White, who lived at the same house. White recently had been released from state prison, where he was serving a sentence for violation of probation.

On Sunday morning, White's family discovered the man's body under bushes near his Lakeland home.

Some of White's family went to the house to see whether anything was missing and to secure his belongings, and they called the sheriff's office after noticing items were gone, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said.

After Polk deputies sent out an alert that they needed help finding the car, Ocala police searched near Ocala's Interstate 75 exits, Ocala police spokeswoman Angy Scroble said. Areas near those exits, she said, "have multiple restaurants, hotels and gas stations."

At 5 p.m. Sunday, Ocala officers found the Altima abandoned at a Quality Inn near an interstate exit. They told Polk deputies about their discovery.

According to a sheriff's office release:

Investigators learned John Eugene Odom, 38, and Susan Marie Wallen, 32, both of Harden Combee Road in Lakeland, had stolen the Altima and ditched it.

Odom and Wallen had checked in to a Motor Inn in Ocala on Saturday. So investigators got a search warrant to enter the room. But when Ocala police's SWAT team entered the room late Sunday, Odom and Wallen weren't there.

Investigators learned that Odom and Wallen had left in a U-Haul they rented Sunday. They are thought to be riding north on Interstate 75 in a 1997 Ford F-350 with Arizona license plate number AA67396.

Wallen's two sons, 13-year-old Josh Smith and 8-year-old Brandon Wallen, are with her "while she flees law enforcement," a sheriff's office release states.

Judd said he doesn't think the adults pose a threat to the children.

The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information to call the Polk County Sheriff's Office at 1-800-226-0344 or 1-863-533-0344, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-8477.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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