Investigation at Plant City home tied to Shakespeare case

Investigators are searching the property of the boyfriend of a central figure in the disappearance of Florida Lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare.

Shakespeare, who won about $30 million in a lottery jackpot in 2007, was last seen in April. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has said he thinks Shakespeare is the victim of a homicide. No suspects have been named, but investigators have said Dorice Donegan "DeeDee" Moore is a "person of interest" in Shakespeare's disappearance.

Earlier this month, Polk County deputies said Moore's boyfriend was Shar Krasniqi. Today, investigators from Hillsborough and Polk counties are on scene of Krasniqi's Plant City home.

As crime scene investigators walked the property with metal detectors and shovels, officials from Hillsborough and Polk counties held a news conference.

A Hillsborough County evidence van is pulled up to the garage of the large ranch-style home at 5802 State Road 60. The area is roped off with yellow crime scene tape.

A man at the property, who talked with investigators in his yard today, declined to comment to the media.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Col. Albert Frost said he couldn't comment on specifics about the case.

Polk County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood declined to comment, referring questions to Hillsborough deputies.

Shakespeare, 43, was reported missing by his family on Nov. 9, and the sheriff's office is offering a $5,000 reward for tips on his whereabouts.

Polk County investigators say Moore, a business associate of Shakespeare, moved more than $1 million from Shakespeare's bank accounts to her own after he was last seen.

Deputies said Moore used Shakespeare's cell phone to send text messages to his family and friends - after he was last seen - to make it appear he was alive. She also paid one of his cousins $5,000 to hand-deliver a birthday card - with cash - to Shakespeare's mother. She also offered to turn over a house worth $200,000 to someone if that person would make a false statement to law enforcement that they saw Shakespeare alive.

Moore owns a staffing company, American Medical Professionals, which is listed in Krasniqi's name, deputies say.

Previously, deputies have said that Moore told detectives she purchased Shakespeare's house for $655,000 and then purchased debt owed to him worth $185,000. The house at 9340 Redhawk Bend Drive in Lakeland was sold in January by Shakespeare to American Medical Professionals, according to the Polk County Property Appraiser's Web site.