At about 10 p.m. on July 17, a father living in a secluded Florida town received a call for help from his son who was fishing at a nearby lake with two friends.
Cyril Rollins, 56, immediately sprung out of bed and rushed to Lake Streety, which police say is about ten minutes from his home and off U.S. 98.
When he arrived, he found his son Brandon Rollins, 27, and two friends â Damion Tillman, 23, and Keven Springfield, 30 â beaten and shot to death.
Rollins was still alive when the attackers left and called his father for help.
âThis is a horrific scene,â Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who has worked at the department since 1972, said at a news conference Saturday near Lake Streety where the bodies were found. âIâve been to a lot of murder scenes in my life, and this ranks among the worst.â
âOne of our victims â Brandon Rollins â was able to call his father and say âhelp.ââ
But the fatherâs nightmare worsened. When he arrived at the gruesome scene, he realized that he forgot his cellphone at home, according to Sheriff Judd.
âHe was at this horrific scene in the middle of nowhere with no communications.
âItâs about as far out in the middle of the woods as you can get. Itâs a peaceful area. Thereâs a beautiful lake that three very close friends were coming fishing on Friday night â and all 3 of them are dead.
âTheyâre murdered. Worse than that, theyâre massacred.â
Now federal agents have joined local and state authorities in searching for clues after the three fishermen were dead on secluded road in Frostproof, Florida, Your Content has exclusively learned.
âItâs evident that a fight ensued when the youngest victim, Damion, arrived at the isolated lake.â an individual close to the investigation told Your Content under the condition of anonymity.
âFor the people that fired those shots, turn yourself in now. Every second you are out there; you are only making this worse for yourself.
âThe evidence located at the scene and information obtained will enable us to act swiftly and certainly towards bringing justice for these three families.â
According to the well-placed source, a woman was caught having an extramarital affair with one of the victims. Her husband snapped, the source said.
“One of the victims was sleeping with a married woman and the husband of that woman and his associates might’ve had it out for the individual,” noting one of the victims killed at the lake was also beaten by the woman’s husband in question not too long ago.
“The other two victims might’ve witnessed the murder by mistake. Wrong place. Wrong time.”
Dottie Payton, mother of Brandon Rollins, told Your Content she’s ‘heartbroken’ over the murder of her son, noting detectives haven’t called her in ‘days.’
âMy heart is broken,â mother of Brandon Rollins, Dottie Paton, told Your Content in an exclusive interview. âPolice said theyâd have answers in a couple days, but we havenât heard anything yet.
âOur safety is in jeopardy as well. Whoâs to say that theyâre not going to come get us too?â the terrified mother revealed.
According to a friend close to the Springfield family … there was an all-out brawl Friday morning prior to the murder … involving a gun.
“From what we understand, Kevin was kicked out of his house Friday morning after an altercation with his dad,” a family friend told Your Content exclusively.
“The father pointed a gun at Kevin Springfield and told him never to come back home again.”
What Police Believe Happened That Deadly Night
According to local authorities, the three were to show up in two separate vehicles.
âTillman, in his red pickup truck, apparently arrived here first,â said the sheriff.
âHe was murdered. It appears that while the suspects were in the process of killing Damion when Brandon and Kevin showed up in a white pickup truck. They were shot up. They were ultimately murdered.â
Police say the dad got back into his car and drove to the closest convenience store to call for help.
âHe got back in his vehicle drove to the convenience store and said, âmy son needs help.â A 17-year-old young lady who is the daughter of the convenience store attendant at that time jumps up and comes back to the scene.
âWhat the murderers didnât also count on is Brandon had the opportunity to talk to his dad before he died.â
The source noted police arenât ruling out any possibilities or suspects as they continue their massive manhunt for information.
âYou donât just stumble upon somebody out here. This is a dirt road, a clay dirt road, way out in the middle of what we call Godâs country, on the way to a nice little fishing lake. Itâs not like thereâs a lot of people around here. As you can see, itâs cow pastures and lakes,â he said.
Police are now seeking the publicâs assistance in gathering information to capture the perpetrators behind the heinous âmassacre.â
If anyone has information, they are urged to contact Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-8477 or www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com. Police guarantee anonymity.
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