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CHUIN-WEI YAPA neighbor finds the woman lying on the floor bleeding. Authorities are releasing few details about her, described as friendly and likable.
LAND O'LAKES - When Dawn Williams went to check on her friend and neighbor, Teresa E. Lodge, just after noon Thursday at their U.S. 41 apartment complex, she got the shock of her life.
"She was laying on the floor," Williams said. "She was bleeding from the upper body. I didn't look that close. I just called the cops. It's something I won't ever forget."
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is investigating a homicide at 4715 Land O'Lakes Blvd. in the Lakeside Apartments complex.
Deputies released few details Thursday and would not confirm Lodge's name.
Neighbors were perplexed about what happened, describing the 46-year-old Lodge as a lively redhead "with an Irish temper."
But Lodge had many friends at the complex beside East Ellis Lake, which has about 20 neighbors. Most just called her "T," they said.
Lodge lived in the six-unit building closest to the lake.
"I woke up at about noon and saw yellow tape everywhere," neighbor Raul Puig said. "I didn't hear anything. She wasn't problematic. People are coming and going in and out of here all the time."
Puig said he had been awake until 4 a.m. Thursday but heard nothing unusual.
A half-dozen people gathered Thursday evening outside the complex all said they knew Lodge, and that she was a friendly and likable woman.
"She was a good little girl," said Randy Burt, Lodge's boyfriend of 11 years.
He last saw Lodge on Sunday, after they spent the weekend celebrating his birthday at his Hudson home, he said.
Burt said he brought Lodge back to her apartment Sunday. "She got mad at me for something," he said. "I haven't seen her since. ... All I know is the cops better find whoever did this."
Lodge was a cook and kitchen manager at Frank's Cafe, right across the street from Lakeside Apartments. Neighbors said they saw her going to work Wednesday.
Deputies said they responded at 12:54 p.m. Thursday to a call from the county fire rescue crew.
Deputies would describe the victim only as "middle-aged."
They ruled the death a homicide after a six-hour investigation by the Pasco-Pinellas Medical Examiner's office, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said.
Deputies were still trying to notify the victim's relatives Thursday night.
Anyone with information or who may have seen anything suspicious at the complex since Wednesday night should call the Sheriff's Office tip line toll-free at 1-800-706-2488. Callers can remain anonymous.
Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.