Feb. 07--MANATEE -- Two bodies have been found inside a Bradenton duplex, and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office is treating the discovery as a homicide case.
At about 11:30 a.m., deputies responded to the house in the 600 block of 61st Avenue Terrace East.
Deputies responded after receiving a 911 call from one of the victim's employer, who hadn't heard from the person since Saturday.
A neighbor said he heard gunshots Sunday evening, but didn't call authorities.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff's office identified one of the victims as 43-year-old Adrian Velasquez Baca. The second victim, a 55-year-old man, was not named, pending notification of family.
The men were roommates, according to the sheriff's office.
Family and friends gathered Tuesday near the crime scene tape that surrounded the beige duplex.
On Tuesday morning, Luis Diaz knocked on the door where his friend lived, but no one answered. Another friend, later came by and called authorities, Diaz said.
Diaz, who has known one of the men for about seven years, said the two men would often drink, but "they never got into problems with anybody."
Diaz, of Bradenton, said he moved out of the duplex where his friend lived eight months ago.
He said his friend worked at a landscaping business.
On Tuesday, crime scene tape blocked off the area around the duplex. Detectives walked in and out of the house.
A crime scene investigation van parked out front, including two other sheriff's office cars.
About a dozen detectives were on scene on Tuesday as they executed the search warrant at the house.
One of the victim's cousin, Carlos Velasquez, said he hadn't spoken to his cousin in weeks. The last time he saw him, he only saw his car as he drove by to his house.
"It's impacted me," Velasquez said as he rubbed his forehead. "I never imagined something like this would happen."
Velasquez said his cousin is from Santa Rita de Yoro, a city in Honduras.
The victim's brother was also at the scene, but declined comment. He was sobbing as he rested his head on a car.
Florence Cerillo, a nearby neighbor, said he heard gunshots Sunday night at about 7 p.m., but didn't think anything of it. He thought someone had knocked on his door.
"I went out to the door, but there was no one," Cerillo said.
Berta Ingles was also at the scene. She is the mother-in-law of the man who owns the duplex.
Ingles said the last time she saw the men was last week when she came to the house to pick up their rent. The other man also worked at dealership. She drove there to pick up his part of the rent.
"They were humble workers," Ingles said.
Copyright 2012 - The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
