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Deputies: Man Found In Polk Pond Had Throat Cut

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TBO.com

Published: January 12, 2009

Updated: 01/12/2009 05:39 pm

Polk County sheriff's detectives are conducting a homicide investigation after the body of a man was found this morning in a pond in Frostproof.

The man's throat had been cut, sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood says in a written statement. The man was identified as Julio Villatoro, 31.

Deputies and emergency personnel were called to 68 Brooks Ridge Road, Frostproof, about 8 a.m. after dispatchers received reports of a death there. That address is home to F&M Avellaneda Harvesting Inc.

Deputies talked to Romeo Augusto Lemos, 37, who told them it appeared Villatoro killed himself and was lying near a tree line, Wood said.

After deputies searched the area and found nothing, Lemos told them that Villatoro had been moved by two brothers, Jose Santos Mata, 34, and Jorge Santos Mata, who is believed to be in his 20s, Wood said.

All the men work for the harvesting company.

Sheriff's canine units joined the search and followed a trail to a nearby pond, Wood said. A dive team found Villatoro's body in the water, and there were "obvious signs that Villatoro's throat had been slashed," Wood said.

Deputies have Lemos in custody, and detectives have located the Mata brothers in Avon Park this afternoon, Wood said. The sheriff's office would not comment further.

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