TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Stepbrother Of Slain Man Found Dead Near His Lakeland Home

News Channel 8 photo by JOHN WINTERROWD

Polk County authorities examine the area where Dion Travis White's body was found Sunday morning.

ADVERTISEMENT

By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune
and RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 16, 2008

Dion Travis White

LAKELAND - Relatives looking for Dion Travis White were concerned about the timing of his disappearance: His stepbrother had been found tied up and shot to death Saturday morning at the Lakeland home the two men shared.

They found White on Sunday morning. His body was hidden under bushes near the home, and Polk County sheriff's detectives are treating the death as a homicide.

Detectives were looking for White, 42, to question him about the killing of Henry Todd Bruder, 30. They did not identify him as a suspect. White recently was released from state prison, where he served time for violating probation.

Carl Arnett, the uncle of White and Bruder, said intuition led him to White's body Sunday morning - as if he was trying to find something misplaced.

Family members spotted some of White's possessions near a fence to the west of the property. They went past the fence to railroad tracks where they found the body, the sheriff's office said.

The body had no identification but detectives say it is White. An autopsy was to be performed Sunday or today.

"I found his shoes and then I looked beyond that and there his body was," Arnett said. "It's bad enough finding someone else dead. But that's your family."

A co-worker found Bruder's body at his home, 1024 Jacks St., after he failed to show up for work.

Still missing is Bruder's beige 2005 Nissan Altima with Florida license plate number I44 ZIL.

Sunday morning, some of White's family went to the house to see whether anything was missing and to secure his belongings, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said.

They called the sheriff's office when they noticed items were gone.

Arnett said his nephews were good people who "would do anything for you." He said the scope of his loss had not fully sunk in.

"I don't know what to do," Arnett said. "I didn't know it would come to this."

Kaylene Buzzard, who lives a block from Bruder's home, said Sunday she was concerned about the safety of the children in the neighborhood.

"It's weird," Buzzard said. "You really don't want your kids outside no more. I feel like I need to stay inside all the time."

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-TIPS.

News Channel 8 reporter Natalie Shepherd contributed to this report. Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT