More than two weeks after comic book writer Stephen J. Perry was last heard from by his friends - and 11 days after his van was found near human remains at a Tampa hotel - Zephyrhills police say he probably is the victim of a homicide.
Police said lab results on some evidence are still pending but the department now officially considers Perry the victim of an "apparent homicide."
Zephyrhills police confirmed last week that Perry, 56, who worked on the popular 1980s animated show "Thundercats," was missing from his Zephyrhills home under suspicious circumstances.
His roommates, James "Jimmy" Davis, 45, and Roxanne Davis, 49, had also vanished from the home at 38046 Eighth Ave.
They have since been arrested on unrelated charges, authorities said.
On May 16, investigators found Perry's blue van and human remains - said by Zephyrhills Mayor Cliff McDuffie to be an arm.
They tracked the van to Perry's home, which was ransacked.
Krystal Carroll, 26, the mother of Perry's 5-year-old son, Leo, said Zephyrhills police last week told her Perry was dead.
"I cried when they told me," she said.
Carroll said police never told her that Perry was murdered, but they told her he was the victim "of a very violent crime."
Leo knows that his dad is dead and frequently wonders why, Carroll said.
"Leo wants to know what happened to his dad," she said. "They were very, very close. When a 5-year-old asks, 'What happened? How did it happen?' you just can't come up with anything to say."
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