Police: Missing man found dead in trunk after altercation with ex, her new boyfriend

By Bob Hazen

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    PINE HILLS, Florida (WESH) — Detectives with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office have arrested two people after a missing man was found dead in his car trunk.

Deputies confirm Melvin Ray Wilcox, 39, had been missing from the Elon Road area of Pine Hills before he was found in a parking lot late Friday night.

The sheriff’s office says Johnny Wesley and Lawshawn Triplett are both facing first-degree murder with a firearm charges.

Officials say Wilcox knew Wesley and Triplett very well. Wilcox had a child with Triplett and had dated her for 15 years.

Wilcox was the father of one of Triplett’s children and a friend of Wesley.

A criminal complaint against Wesley and Triplett says Wilcox had run into the couple at the county fair and got into an argument with Wesley because Wilcox found out the two had been dating for about a year.

Investigators say Wilcox went to Wesley’s house a few days later, and they believe that is where Wilcox was shot to death.

Police even found surveillance video, showing the victim’s car being backed up close to the house. They think that was when they were loading his body into the trunk, and when they showed it to the suspects, detectives say Wesley couldn’t explain it and got nervous.

Police also say they found the victim’s blood inside the home.

Both are in jail and being held without bond.

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