He should have called Dexter.
Posted on 05/05/2026 1:17:40 PM PDT by Red Badger
Florida man, 19, killed, cut up, abandoned body in suitcase, police say
Lucas Sander Jones, 19, was charged with the murder of a registered sex offender, Colie Lee Daniel. Investigators said evidence and witness statements show Jones cut up Daniel's body and put his body parts in a suitcase. Jones' girlfriend told police he told her not to say anything.
PALM BAY, Fla. - Parts of a registered sex offender's body were found in a suitcase abandoned in an undeveloped area of Palm Bay, known as "The Compound."
Medical examiners identified the body as Colie Lee Daniel, who was reported as a missing person on March 22.
Now, an Indialantic man is behind bars in connection to Daniel's death, which was ruled as a homicide.
What we know: Colie Lee Daniel, 28, was seen arriving at the home of Lucas Sander Jones, 19, in Indialantic on April 20, around 5:32 p.m. He was captured on surveillance video. Daniel lived about one mile away. Daniel is a registered sex offender.
The area known as The Compound in Palm Bay.
Around 9:45 p.m., Daniel’s parents arrived at Jones’ home looking for Daniel.
Jones answered the door but refused to let Daniel’s parents or officers from the Indialantic Police Department inside to check on Daniel.
"No contact was ever made with Daniel that evening," an arrest affidavit said.
Jones’ girlfriend later arrived and was told "just to go in and not say anything," the affidavit said.
At around 2:29 a.m., March 21, the girlfriend’s car was seen traveling, which detectives later learned Jones left in the middle of the night to drop an evidence bag with unknown contents on the train tracks. The girlfriend was left in the home asleep.
Jones doesn’t have his own vehicle, the affidavit said.
Read: A timeline of Colie Lee Daniel's murder
When officers conducted a welfare check on Daniel on March 21, there was no sign of him, the affidavit said. Jones was visibly disheveled with red on his arms and chest, puffiness under his eyes and visible bruising to his shoulder and neck.
Shortly after police spoke with Jones, he was seen loading up his girlfriend’s car with two Rubbermaid storage totes and at least one black suitcase.
The car was seen traveling two and from The Compound twice, the affidavit said.
Read: Human remains found in 2 suitcases left at Palm Bay's The Compound, police say
The area known as The Compound in Palm Bay.
Teen arrested: Charged with abuse of a dead human body Jones was arrested on March 28 after investigators found an Amazon package in the suitcase addressed to Jones. Authorities were originally alerted to the suitcase after it was reported that vultures were circling the area.
Red droplets and splatter, consistent with human blood, were seen in the hallway and living room of Jones’ home, an arrest affidavit said.
Jones was charged with tampering or fabricating physical evidence, abuse of a dead body, transport of a human body in an unauthorized container and murder – dangerous depraved without premeditation.
Jones' girlfriend tells investigators her side On March 20, Jones’ girlfriend told investigators after speaking with Jones on the phone, she "sensed something was wrong," and left to go to his house. He asked her to bring cleaning supplies, the affidavit said.
Inside the home, black spray paint was on the walls and blood was on the floor, the girlfriend described to police.
The area known as The Compound in Palm Bay.
Jones reportedly told her, "I killed somebody and cut him up," before placing him in two suitcases and two Rubbermaid totes, the girlfriend told police. The girlfriend told investigators Jones said he killed Daniel with a baseball bat and cut up his body with a cleaver, saw and knife.
When they traveled to The Compound, Jones – who had Daniel's phone, told his girlfriend to turn off the location.
Days later, Jones reportedly told his girlfriend he killed Daniel because Daniel was a sex offender. She didn’t know how Jones met Daniel, but knew that Jones printed a list of sex offenders.
A week after the murder, the girlfriend said Jones coached her and told her what to tell law enforcement.
Manner of death: Homicide
On March 31, a medical examiner identified Daniel as the body in the suitcase. The manner of death was determined to be a homicide and the cause of death is undetermined due to the unknown location of his entire body.
He had an unspecified amount of multiple blunt force injuries to his head and extremities before death, the detective said.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the 18th Judicial Court in Brevard County.
I would need to know the age of the person that was sexually assaulted.
“And don’t leave out any detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you…..”
I guess he never watched Dexter...sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.
Perhaps Rubbermaid tubs are authorized for corpse transsport, but suitcases aren’t because you just can’t get the smell out. Or so I’ve heard...
“He was captured on surveillance video. ...”
Big Brother’s powers are growing.
Unless you are severely rural traffic cams catch you dozens of times a day.
Had to look that up. I thought it was some new media made-up ethnicity. It's a Florida town. Stupid media.
(shrug) Okay.
Yes, I’ve been there many times!..........😎
He should have called Dexter.
Yeah, but Jimmy Stewart was close friends with a detective; so Burr was re-arrested for defenestration.
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