FL - Lorena Stone, 49, & Whitney Mendez, 19, murdered, Lehigh Acres, 24 July 2006

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LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (AP) — Two bodies found inside a southwest Florida home where a dehydrated child sat outside in a highchair were identified Tuesday by authorities as a mother and daughter.

The two were found dead Monday afternoon in the midst of a "large amount of blood" in their home, according to a police report. The cause of the deaths of Lorena Stone, 49, and Whitney Mendez, 19, was not released.

Authorities declined to identify the toddler who was found by a relative outside the home Monday. The toddler was treated for dehydration and taken to a safe location, Lee County sheriff's spokeswoman Illena Foell said.



More: http://www.courttv.com/news/2006/0726/mother_daughter_slain.html
 
I am so thankful (if one can be thankful in a situation like this) that the child was spared.

Dustin Culp, the son of a slain Lehigh Acres woman, was released from Lee County Jail on Wednesday, where he was serving a 10-month sentence, sheriff’s officials said today.

Culp, 27, received visits from several family members from inside the jail since he learned Monday that his mother, Lorena Stone, 49, and her daughter, Whitney Mendez, 19, were killed inside their home in Lehigh Acres...

http://tinyurl.com/pcv8y

And Mendez had just filed a domestic violence thingy against her husband. LE said this wasn't random. IMO...ex-hubby did it or an acquaintance of the son. Did I miss it - the reason the son was in jail...?
 
Found this:

Whitney Mendez confided in friends about her estranged husband and said she feared for her safety in the days before she died...

..Whitney Mendez matured a lot after having her son, who she said has cerebral palsey...

http://tinyurl.com/qhbl2
 
Why do the reports say "his mother, Lorena Stone, 49, and her daughter, Whitney Mendez, 19" - wouldn't Whitney be his sister? Or, at least, step sister?
 
bykerladi said:
Why do the reports say "his mother, Lorena Stone, 49, and her daughter, Whitney Mendez, 19" - wouldn't Whitney be his sister? Or, at least, step sister?
Maybe they were writing the article in a hurry and were just trying to distinguish that Whitney wasn't his daughter, but hers.
 
The police keep saying this is not a random slaying and that neighbors have nothing to fear. If I were a neighbor, I would be extremely frightened until someone is behind bars.
 
Victims revealed much info online
MySpace profiles called a 'risky business'

Katie Knudson, 24, also told her life's story on that popular site. She wrote about her career as a beautician and her new job.

Their murders — Knudson was killed in a shooting on Metro Parkway in February and Mendez was found dead in her Lehigh Acres home Monday — have focused attention again on Internet sites where people can reveal the most intimate details of their private lives to countless others.
That kind of exposure can leave people who use those sites vulnerable.

Stacie Brown, a Fort Myers licensed mental health counselor, said that some are naive about the dangers of posting too much personal information.

"Some don't realize the potential for danger and so many of them have profiles on MySpace," Brown said. "It's a risky business."

Mendez, for example, answered a commonly used online survey about sex.




More: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS0110/607270368/1075/NEWS01
 
A witness saw the child sitting in the high chair in the small covered entryway to the duplex at 7 a.m. A call about the deaths came in at 3:13 p.m., according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Larry King.

from: http://tinyurl.com/qhbl2

I wonder why this witness didn't check on the child? One of the articles I read said the child had been out about 8 hours - so that would put the time the witness saw the child about the time of the murders probably. I wonder if she saw someone with the child at the time - such as the killer.
 
Lori Stone loved her children and her 15 cats, a friend said Friday.

Lisa Matyi of Lakeland said she was shocked to learn her friend Stone, 49, and her daughter, Whitney Mendez, 19, were found dead inside their duplex at 4968 24th St. S.W. in Lehigh Acres on Monday.

Matyi lived next door to Stone, Mendez and Stone's son, Dustin Mason Culp, for 19 years in Lakeland.

"She was a good person who loved her children," Matyi said of Stone, who also worked with her at the Lakeland office of the state Division of Forestry. "We were all sad to hear of her death."

Crime scene tape came down around the duplex Friday morning. Lee County Sheriff's spokeswoman Ileana Foell said investigators were moving on to other phases of the investigation and were done at the scene.

The deaths are being called suspicious, but there is no word on when autopsy results or other information about the case will be released.


More: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=8430220&blogID=149932273&MyToken=9d3e739d-b3ac-419c-9240-7a94c7d65ae9
 
Whitney Mendez, 19, and her mother Lorena “Lori” Stone, 49, were found inside the
home at 4968 24th St. SW, along with “a large amount of blood,” according to sheriff’s reports.

Lori Stone loved her children and her 15 cats, a friend said today.

Lisa Matyi of Lakeland said she was shocked to learn her friend Lorena Stone, 49, and Stone's daughter, Whitney Mendez, 19, were found dead inside their duplex on Monday.

Matyi lived next door to Stone, Mendez and Stone's son, Dustin Mason Culp, for 19 years in Lakeland.

"She was a good person who loved her children," Matyi said of Stone, who also worked with her at the Lakeland office of the state Division of Forestry. "We were all sad to hear of her death."

Matyi worked with Stone for about 10 years until Stone and her children moved to Fort Myers in 2001 when Stone took a job working with computers in the forestry division's Everglades district. She said outside of work, Stone spent a lot of time with her children. She also liked cruising the Internet and had about 15 cats.

"She took cats in. She was a big-time cat lover," Matyi said.

After the family moved to Fort Myers, they ran into some trouble. Stone had gastric bypass surgery that caused nerve damage and cost her the use of her hands for about a year, Matyi said. Stone went on disability and eventually left the forestry job.

She lost the Fort Myers home to foreclosure in 2005, public records show, and moved to the Lehigh duplex.

More: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060728/NEWS0103/60728023/1005/ACC
 
According to sheriff's records, deputies responded to the Lehigh home April 12 for someone "threatening suicide," but did not take any action. A woman who lives at the Lehigh home was threatening suicide while on the phone with a family member, sheriff's reports show.

David English, 59, of Fort Myers owns the Lehigh home and had rented it to Stone and Mendez. English said Stone, a former state Division of Forestry employee, had been depressed and that she and Mendez, a waitress, were going through some financial struggles.

Crime-scene tape was still up Tuesday evening around the side of the duplex where the pair were found dead, and tape also blocked off the streets leading to the home. A deputy's cruiser sat parked in the backyard of the house that borders the backyard of 4968 S.W. 24th St.

Deputies were still present and could be seen walking around and leaving the duplex Tuesday, but it was nowhere near the hectic scene of activity Monday afternoon.

An incident report released Tuesday stated that when a woman found the bodies she noticed a "large amount of blood in the residence."

Mendez had not logged onto her MySpace.com personal Web page since Saturday. Her site includes photographs of family and friends and answers to personal surveys. She listed her hometown as Lakeland and mentioned she'll soon be going to Georgia.


More: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS0103/607260399/1005/ACC
 
Sheriff's spokeswoman Ileana Foell said Mendez's estranged husband, Juan Mendez Jr., 27, who she accused of beating her and threatening to kill her in a June 30 domestic violence injunction, has been interviewed and is cooperating with investigators.

• 911 recording: Scott said detectives are still analyzing the tape of the 911 call made when Stone and Whitney Mendez were found.

"As soon as they're ready to release it, they will," Scott said.

He would not elaborate on what might be on the tape that could not be released to the public. He also would not say who the caller was or what circumstances led that person to the house.

According to sheriff's reports, the women were found inside the home with Mendez's 2-year-old son, Javon, sitting in a high chair just outside the front door.

Officials said he had been sitting there since 7 a.m. or earlier.


More: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/NEWS0103/608010369/1005/ACC
 
I was hoping that there would be something new on this case. I'm so thankful that the killer didn't harm that baby. Also glad that the baby was left sitting outside in his highchair so that someone would eventially notice that he had been out there for a long time and no adults were around. Poor little guy.

I wonder if the mother had an ex that had given her problems. LE said that the daughter's ex was cooperating with them but then that really doesn't mean a whole lot. People can cooperate and still be guilty. It sounds like LE don't think he was involved though. I wonder if anything was taken from the home?

Hopfully the killer will be found and put away for ever. Did the baby's dad get him? Anyone know?
 
November 24, 2009

Ft. Myers, Florida–Jurors on Tuesday found a Fort Myers man guilty of murdering his estranged wife and mother-in-law. Juan Mendez Jr. was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder for the stabbing deaths of Whitney Mendez and her mother in July 2006.

Jurors deliberated for just about 90 minutes to arrive at their unanimous decision. As they entered a silent courtroom, the six-member panel looked straight ahead without any visible emotion as they took their seats.

Much more at link:
http://insession.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/
 
Posted: Feb 22, 2010 2:28 PM EST
Updated: Feb 22, 2010 5:22 PM EST

FORT MYERS: Juan Mendez was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for killing his estranged wife and her mother in 2006.

Mendez was convicted last year of stabbing Whitney Mendez and Lorena Stone to death in their Lehigh Acres home in July 2006.

BBM
Much more at link:
http://video.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=12024503
 
Juan Mendez, Jr.

Housed: Wakulla Annex
Offense Date: 07/22/2006
Sentence Date: 02/22/2010

Offense: 2 counts 2nd Degree Murder
Sentence: 2 Life Sentences - Consecutive

No parole information in the system.
 

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