LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A home and an SUV were severely damaged — apparently by construction machinery — Friday morning in Lake County, prompting a road closure and an investigation, sheriff’s officials said.
Afterward, deputies said that the woman who lived at the home was also missing. However, she was ultimately found safe on Friday evening.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called around 7:05 a.m. to a home in the 9000 block of Pine Island Road, southeast of state roads 50 and 33, near Clermont.
Deputies said it appeared that heavy machinery ran into both sides of the residence multiple times, although there was no heavy equipment at the scene.
Someone who said they saw it happen, however, told News 6 it was not an excavator.
“It definitely wasn’t because everybody thinks of the track hoe excavator. But it was a lull with a long boom reach on it that they had out here doing that,” the witness said.
Officials said the home, which also had a spray-painted message on it that appeared to be from a woman to a man, sustained major structural damage.
A portion of the message read “(expletive) with wrong girl.” It’s not clear what the rest of the graffiti is referring to.
A Ford Expedition on the property had a crushed roof and broken windows, also believed to be damaged by the equipment, sheriff’s officials said.
On Friday afternoon, the sheriff’s office put out a release that they were searching for Nicole Griner, 45, who was last seen on Thursday with her boyfriend, 33-year-old Nickolis Dewitt.
Griner lives at the home.
“They were traveling in an unknown model or tag pick-up truck. The pick-up truck was olive green in color with a diesel engine,” the release initially read. “Nicole Griner is believed to be with Dewitt, but it is not confirmed if they would still be in the described vehicle.”
Along with Griner — who was found in Pasco County — Dewitt was also located safely on Friday, deputies announced.
No additional information about the case has been provided at this time.
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