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Still no leads in Mobbly Bayou murder

Detectives are asking for the public's help in solving the murder of an Odessa man found by fishermen near a wilderness area boat ramp.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published August 10, 2006

OLDSMAR - With leads drying up, Pinellas County sheriff's detectives Wednesday appealed for assistance in solving the murder of a 23-year-old Odessa man found dead in May near the Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve.

"We're still in the process of following up on some things, but we could sure use any help we can get," said Detective Jim Beining.

About 8:30 a.m. on May 30, two fishermen discovered the body of Marcos Antonio Diaz in the driver's seat of a beige Kia sedan parked along an unpaved portion of National Orange Avenue, just south of Patty Drive.

The road leads to a boat ramp that is part of the Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve.

Diaz, who lived at 15618 Shoal Creek Place in Odessa, was studying to be a hairstylist and had no criminal record, Beining said.

The Kia he was found in belonged to his father, who lives at the same address.

"We want to be able to move forward with our life," said stepmother Anita Diaz. "And if they find who did this, it would bring us one step closer to doing that."

Investigators were still piecing together the hours before Diaz was found dead.

Residents in the area told detectives they had heard a couple of gunshots about 1:45 to 2 a.m. that morning and then saw the lights of a vehicle leaving the area, heading north on National Orange Avenue.

Beining would not say how many times Diaz was shot or what caliber of gun was used. However, he said an autopsy confirmed his death was a homicide.

"It's hard to believe where his body was found that nobody saw anything," Anita Diaz said Wednesday. "It's very upsetting no one has come forward yet."

[Last modified August 9, 2006, 23:03:39]