LAKE PANASOFFKEE

If you've seen more stray cats and kittens around your neighborhood lately, it's no coincidence – it's kitten season.

A Lake Panasoffkee woman died Tuesday after crashing into a car that had passed her and rear ended another vehicle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – Sumter County Deputies are searching for a missing man out of the Lake Panasoffkee area, according to a news release. Joseph Marsh, 47, was reported missing from his residence on Northwest 4th Drive Tuesday after he stopped responding to calls and text messages, deputies said. Investigators said Marsh was last known to be in possession of a 2001 GMC Yukon, gray in color, with Florida Tag Z438VI. Anyone who has information on Marsh’s whereabouts is urged to call the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office at 352-793-2621 and reference case #1235.

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – A man who had been reported missing last month was found dead in Lake Panasoffkee on Thursday as a result of an accidental drowning, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said Jeremy Bennett was reported missing on Feb. 23 after he left his residence on County Road 435 in Lake Panasoffkee. He appeared to be distraught and he didn’t have a cellphone with him at the time. A medical examiner determined that Bennett accidentally drowned. “We wish to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Bennett,” deputies wrote in a news release.

LAKE PANASOFFKEE Sumter County deputies arrested a Coleman federal prison employee at his Lake Panasoffkee home Monday morning on 15 counts of possession of child pornography. Deputies with Sumter's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested 43-year-old James Theodore Wojnarowski, who was also a registered volunteer with the Sumter County School District, following a tip they received that linked child pornography downloads to his home, according to a statement from the agency. Wojnarowski admitted during an interview that he did possess and transmit child pornography, the Sheriff's Office reported. The Sheriff's Office also said that though Wojnarowski has volunteered in schools, deputies did not find any indication of local victims. The Sumter County School District terminated Wojnarowski as a volunteer and trespassed him from all Sumter County schools.