LORIDA The Highlands County Sheriff's Office is still seeking the identity of a woman found dead Monday in a citrus grove near Buckhorn Road in Lorida. "We're still hoping to get a citizen who can provide us information in that regard, (or) a loved one or friend," said Lt. Tim Lethbridge, with the Criminal Investigations Unit, on Tuesday. The victim was listed as between 45 to 60 years of age, of apparent Hispanic ethnicity, 4 foot 10 inches tall and 123 pounds. She also had short, black, graying hair and was found dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. ...more

October 15, 2008

LAKE PLACID — It's still an unsolved mystery, what happened that night in 1997 when a call came to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. Lt. John Chess recalls, dimly because it was 10 years ago. His recollection and the murder files, he says, don't match author John Bowe's book, "Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy." (Hardcover, 336 pages. Price: $25.95) But Chess agrees with the premise of the book, that indentured servitude certainly does exist today, because he's a veteran police officer. "This has been going on for years," Chess said. ...more

September 30, 2007