ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A woman was found dead in her Parkshore Plaza condo after some friends called to check on her well-being when she didn't show up for lunch, according to police.
Officers responded just after 1 p.m. Thursday to the complex at 300 Beach Drive Northeast about the suspicious death of a woman who was found in a unit, the St. Petersburg Police Department spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said. The woman has been identified as Deborah Haugh. She was 70.
Police identified Tracy Lukanic, 57, as a suspect in what's now being investigated as a homicide. He was Haugh's boyfriend, St. Petersburg police said.
According to authorities, Lukanic jumped to his death from the top floor of the Sundial parking garage earlier Thursday morning.
When Haugh didn't meet her friends, they called for help. They joined a maintenance worker who went to check on the woman and found her dead.
"What we can say is that she died of trauma," Fernandez said. "It was a violent act, and we don't believe it was random. We have reason to believe that she knew the suspect and there's no real threat to any of the public or anyone else in the building at this time."
Initially, police said it was believed there was some relationship between the woman and the person accused of killing her. Haugh's door was locked, according to police.
Fernandez said police are investigating, talking to witnesses and checking surveillance video in the area, and cannot yet name a suspect.
"A crime like this with a 70-year-old woman is always a difficult situation, and it is a very violent crime scene no matter where it would happen in the city," Fernandez said.