No foul play suspected in death in Springfield

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police investigate 5 homicides in 5 days

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Homicide detectives were at a business on East 9th Street Tuesday morning investigating a suspicious death, but police do not believe foul play is involved.

Police said a man's body was found about 9:30 a.m. inside a locked, fenced parking lot of an auto repair shop. The man, who appeared to be in his 50s but has not been identified, was wearing only a shirt and shocks.

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"I was just heading back to pick up my trailer that I store in the backyard there, and there was a body laying on the ground," said John Soares, who owns the business next door.

Police said there were some signs of trauma, but no immediate indication of cause of death. That and a positive identification will be determined by the medical examiner, which arrived at the scene just before noon.

Police said they found no weapons, no motive and had not made any arrests.

In the past five days, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has initiated investigations into five homicides cases: a fatal shooting near the intersection of 21st and Hubbard Streets on Friday night, a shooting death Saturday on West Beaver Street, a stabbing death Sunday morning at a Baymeadows apartment complex and two deaths on Labor Day: a woman found dead in a West 3rd Street garage and a man killed on Barth Road in Dinsmore.

According to the latest count by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, there have been 71 homicides in Jacksonville so far in 2013, and 61 of those are considered murder.  Fifteen of those homicides were in July and and 10 were in August.