FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Fernandina Beach police are sharing new details from their investigation into a dog-sitter’s suspicious death.
Last month, police found 73-year-old Colleen Potts dead inside a home on South 13th Street. She was dog-sitting for the homeowner.
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Action News Jax spoke with the Deputy Chief of Police for the first on-camera interview on the case.
Deputy Chief of Police Jeffrey Tambasco says police are exhausting all resources in solving the crime. Right now, police are looking into a few different people, Tambaso says, adding that there are no persons of interest just yet.
Potts was a beloved dog-sitter in Fernandina Beach. October 24 would be the last day she worked. That evening, police found her dead inside the home whose owner she was dog-sitting for.
“We definitely feel for the community. This is literally an island and a very small community and any crime on our island has an effect on our community,” Tambasco said.
Tambasco is determined to solve the crime.
Police say Potts was found dead, lying face-down on the couch, and that there were no obvious signs of a struggle, and the dogs were unharmed.
Tambasco says someone may have stolen money from Potts’ unlocked white Kia Soul the night before her death.
“We believe the incident took place at that location only, and it was not a targeted incident, but it wasn’t something that was just done randomly,” Tambasco said, adding that there were no other burglaries in the area since Potts’ death.
Action News Jax told him locals are frustrated that police aren’t sharing more details, including Potts’ cause of death.
Tambasco says that information would jeopardize the investigation at this time.
“We have specific individuals that we are looking at, and there are certain aspects of the crime that we just cannot put out to the public. Those are aspects that these individuals – if they are the ones that committed this crime – would know, and only them would be able to know that,” he explained.
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Tambasco says it takes a team to solve the crime, and he believes the community is part of that team.
“We will do a thorough investigation and we will not make an arrest until we know we have what we need to put this person in jail for the rest of their life,” he said.
Many of Potts’ clients were worried about their house keys and addresses being in the wrong hands after Potts’ death. Police say they have her address book, and have returned her clients’ keys to them.
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