A Florida service technician made a gruesome discovery while emptying his leaf rake.
Eli Etzer, a service technician employed by Swordfish Pool Care in Delray Beach, Florida, was servicing a swimming pool this July at a highend customer’s house overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway. When he went to dump his net along the coastal rocks nearby, he saw a suitcase jammed against the rocks, covered in flies.
According to his employer, Jacob Grozier, curiosity got the best of Etzer, and using a pool pole, he lifted a corner of the slightly opened suitcase revealing the dismembered remains of a woman’s body.
“He called me in a panic,” Grozier said. “It was low tide, so it was hung up on the rocks … kind of like a carry-on suitcase, completely covered in flies with the most terrible smell. I happened to be two streets west and ran over there and called the cops.”
The suitcase turned out to be among three found that day, all containing to remains of 80-yearold Aydil Barbosa Fontes. Etzer and Grozier discovered the second one.
“Honestly, [it] felt like I got
Aydil Barbosa Fontes.
William Lowe
Imagine finding body parts in a suitcase that washed up on the beach? That is just what service tech Eli Etzer, of Swordfish Pool Care, in Delray Beach found as he emptied his leaf rake while cleaning his customer’s pool. punched in the stomach for a moment,” Grozier said. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Police have arrested the woman’s husband, 78-year-old William Lowe, for the murder of his wife.
Witnesses told police that they had seen a man looking in the water about five to six times over a three-day period. The probable cause affidavit states the man appeared to be looking in a suitcase in the water. When the man was asked what he was doing, he said he was waiting for a big boat to come into the harbor.
Using surveillance video from the dock, investigators were able to trace Lowe’s car to the couple’s apartment nearby, where they found large amounts of blood in the living room, dining room, bathtub, and bathroom drains.
The police report states that drag marks were also found at the apartment as well as a chainsaw charger and cover. The report also stated that there was a trail of blood leading to Lowe’s apartment.
At a nearby storage unit, a chainsaw was found with blood, hair, and bone fragments on the chain and housing.
According to police, Fontes’ cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. They also found a 9 mm gun inside the apartment.
Residents were surprised to learn that the murder and dismemberment took place so close to home. Lowe and his wife lived on a barrier island surrounded by homes valued in the millions of dollars. An apartment in their building is listed for $1.1 million.
Lowe has been charged with first-degree murder and improper dismemberment of a human body. He has pleaded not guilty.
Grozier said he is still in disbelief over finding the body.
“It’s something that is right out of Dexter,’” he said. “Body parts floating in the Florida ocean or Intracoastal.”
