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Body found behind Wagon Wheel market

By Cristina Silva and John Frank
Published February 4, 2007

The body of a 31-year-old Pinellas Park woman who had been missing was discovered in a small thicket behind the Wagon Wheel Flea Market parking lot Saturday afternoon, said Pinellas County sheriff's officials.

It appeared as if Jenise Gaskin had been lying dead in the woods for "quite some time," said Sgt. Jim Bordner, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. Her family reported her missing on Jan. 11. At the time, they said they were worried she might harm herself.

Gaskin's body did not bear any immediately visible signs of violence, and it did not appear as if she had been robbed because she was found wearing some jewelry. A duffle bag was found nearby.

An unidentified man called 911 to report the body. Investigators asked that anyone with any information about Gaskin's death contact them.

68-year-old injured in attempted purse theft

A 68-year-old Seminole woman was injured when she was pulled to the ground and dragged as a young man tried to snatch her purse Saturday afternoon.

The man took the woman's white, imitation leather purse and fled in a black 1998 Jeep Cherokee with a woman at the wheel.

The Jeep had been reported stolen to St. Petersburg police earlier in the afternoon.

The two abandoned the Jeep and, authorities thought, took a red, 2000 Dodge Caravan with a Florida license plate W639GD.

The robbery occurred in the parking lot near the Bealls Department Store at 7703 Seminole Mall.

The Seminole woman, who suffered minor injuries, said her purse contained a small amount of cash.

Woman found dead; foul play not suspected

A 42-year-old woman was found dead Saturday morning lying next to her white minivan, which was parked at the end of a dead-end road in central Citrus County.

A spokeswoman for the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said the medical examiner determined that Susan Irene Swinburnson died of natural causes. Swinburnson, who worked at a Winn-Dixie in Beverly Hills, suffered from high blood pressure, the spokeswoman said.

Swinburnson lived on Oak Lawn Street in Lecanto but was found in the driveway of a vacant home at 3480 W Woodthrush St., not far from where she lived. Investigators couldn't determine how she died or why she was at the wrong house.

[Last modified February 4, 2007, 00:21:38]