FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – The Clay County Sheriff's Office has administered polygraph tests to several family members of the girlfriend of a 65-year-old Fleming Island man whose body was found in the St. Johns River, the girlfriend's family said.
According to investigators, Keith Pereau’s 49-year-old girlfriend, Maria Romero, and her family were the last people to be with him the night he disappeared -- in the early-evening hours of July 15 when they went out on his boat and when he eventually returned to shore.
Since Pereau disappeared and after his body was found July 27 in the river near the Doctors Lake Bridge, Pereau's sons and investigators have spoken publicly about the case. But there hasn't been much word from Romero and her family, who lived with Pereau.
That changed Thursday night when Romero's daughter called me, saying multiple members of her family have passed polygraphs administered by the Sheriff's Office. She also said the case has become increasingly tense for her family members because they have dealt with threats due to the cloud of uncertainty over Pereau’s death.
Romero's daughter said Pereau helped raise his girlfriend's children and they had a great relationship. She added they had nothing to do with his death and they are devastated by it.
The daughter also said her husband met with investigators to take a voluntary polygraph Friday to show they have nothing to hide. But after that meeting, she told me that she has to limit the amount of information she makes public.
The Sheriff's Office is not expected to release any new details until the autopsy is completed, possibly by next week. Investigators still classify the case as an "undetermined death."
When asked about the polygraph tests, the Sheriff's Office told News4Jax it could not comment because they're part of an "active investigation."