Multiple crime scene vans, investigators combing for evidence, and a mobile command unit on site; this is the scene along Sally Avenue North in Lehigh Acres as investigators continued to investigate the case of Matthew Collins who went missing on Friday the 13th.
The case ended in a homicide along with the arrest of 19-year-old Aria Armstead and 20-year-old Nathan Ortiz who were charged in connection with Collin's murder. It's a revelation that comes as a shock to their neighbors.
One of them is Gia Abar. She works from home and says that her neighborhood is usually more calm. It's a stark contrast to the interruption the investigation has brought to her neighborhood.
"Everybody here really keeps to themselves", she told Four in Your Corner. "It's just a really quiet area area, this part of Lehigh."
Deputies say the Matthew Collins' car was found six days after he was reportedly last seen. The car was found a few blocks away from where Armstead and Ortiz live. There was a bullet hole in the windshield and and blood was inside.
Investigators later found Collins' body across the street from the Armstead and Ortiz's home. The investigation came as a surprise to Zach Abar who moved to the neighborhood because of how quiet it is.
"Just to hear that, you know, it don;t matter where we are. This kind of thing can happen. It kinda just disturbs that quietness and the innocence of the whole area", he told Fox 4.
Abar and his wife told Fox 4 that deputies have been investigating the area since early Thursday, blocking off the street where the body was found. It;s not something they expected to happen in their quiet community. They're worried about what's become of the neighborhood they call home.
Armstead has been charged with second degree murder and Ortiz has been charged as an accessory after the fact.
