(Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information.)
DELAND — The two men found dead on a property behind the Athens Theatre in DeLand the night of July 29 were shot multiple times and detectives are working to determine a motive, according to Police Chief Jason D. Umberger.
The victims, Dustin Rose, 19, was a former resident of DeLeon Springs, and Samson Campbell, 18, was a former resident of DeLand, Umberger said during a press conference July 30 at the police department.
Umberger said Rose was visiting from South Carolina where he attended The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, and was a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard. Campbell had recently moved to Chicago, the chief said.
Umberger said investigators did not immediately know what the men, who were childhood friends, were doing in DeLand.
DeLand Police need public’s help to solve double homicide, chief says
Umberger said police were called to the shooting scene at 213 W. New York Ave., an industrial property behind the Athens Theatre, at 10:40 p.m. July 29, where the men were found dead.
According to the 911 call, one of the victim’s mothers found the bodies and made the call.
Officers arriving on scene discovered that both men had been shot multiple times, Umberger said.
Umberger asked for the public’s and both families’ patience as his investigators await the forensic lab results from evidence gathered at the murder scene, stating the department is doing everything it can to quickly solve the double homicide.
The chief said he needed the public’s help, too, and urged any witnesses to contact the DeLand Police Department via the Crimewatch portal, which can be anonymous. Members of the public can also contact the DeLand Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division at 386-626-7400 and ask for a detective, the chief said.
“If anyone in our community saw or heard anything suspicious or saw something out of the ordinary or had any contact with Dustin Rose or Samson Campbell beginning on Tuesday evening July 28 from around 6 o’clock in the evening up until Wednesday evening, last night, July 29, up until around 10 p.m. or if they have any other information that they believe would be helpful to our investigators about any of these two young men, please contact the DeLand Police Department,” Umberger said.
Mother finds son dead in downtown DeLand
In a 911 recording released by DeLand police July 30, a woman tells a dispatcher that she and another woman were out looking for their missing children when they walked behind the Athens Theatre and saw two bodies.
“Both of our kids have been missing. They are adults so we’ve been looking for them. We started looking everywhere,” the woman tells the dispatcher.
“We are scared to look at the bodies,” she said when she asked if she found her children.
All of a sudden, the woman started screaming, “We think it’s our kids!”
“She is looking right now. I got to call my dad.”
Another woman screams, “Oh my God.”
The woman is heard calling her father and telling him she found the children dead.
“Dad, we just found them dead behind the Athens Theatre. They are dead,” the woman said.
The woman then tells the dispatcher: “My son is dead.”
DeLand Police chief: Murdered man’s mother tracked phone to find him
At the July 30 press conference, Umberger said the mother who found her dead son may have tried to report him missing with another agency, but he could not confirm that.
Asked how the mother ended at the location behind the Athens Theater, Umberger said the woman tracked her son’s phone.
Downtown DeLand murders scary, witnesses said
The killings in the heart of downtown DeLand has left the community shaken. A couple witnesses who spoke to The News-Journal said it’s hard to believe it happened very close in a public place.
“I came downtown to have coffee with my friends and I saw it on social media,” Kate Lind said.
Lind, who is a retired Volusia County worker who worked downtown, said she visited the location for decades to feed cats.
“It’s just scary,” Lind said, as she watched the lot behind the Athens Theatre blocked off with yellow crime scene tape.
Another witness, who did not want to be identified, and worked near the crime scene said the murders occurred to close to the office.
“Damn, little close to home,” the witness said.
The witness said that on the afternoon of July 29 they saw a woman walking around the parking lot screaming and shouting what sounded like “Dustin” and then got in her car and left.
That witness said they provided DeLand police detectives at the scene with a photo of the woman seen in the parking lot.
“(We) had to lock our front door,” the witness said.
― Patricio G. Balona is a crime and public safety reporter covering Volusia County and occasionally Flagler County. His coverage areas include Daytona Beach, DeLand, Ormond Beach and beyond.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UPDATED: 2 men found shot to death behind DeLand theater, police said
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
