Detectives In Diamond Springs Investigate 2 Suspicious Deaths Days Apart On Same Street
DIAMOND SPRINGS (CBS13) - Two people were found dead less than a week apart on the same street in Diamond Springs.
A man found dead on the side of the road early Wednesday morning was a person of interest in last Friday's homicide of a 63-year-old woman.
"It was really unexpected," said neighbor Deidre Morgan.
There is fear in the small El Dorado County town as people react to not one, but two suspicious deaths in less than a week.
"This is crazy, this is a small town, everyone knows everyone," said Hayley Huntsman.
But no one we spoke with knows Jeanie Ciley, 63, who was found dead at a Fowler Lane home Friday. Neighbors say she's only been renting the house for a month.
Within 24 hours, El Dorado County deputies ruled her death a homicide, but wouldn't say how it happened. Neighbors say people in this quiet town would notice if something was wrong.
"If someone was struggling, if there was screaming, definitely neighbors would notice and say something," said Huntsman.
Wednesday morning, a mans body found just a block and a half from where the homicide happened.
Deputies say he was a person of interest in Ciley's death and was also living in the home where the murder happened.
Deputies say he was dead when they arrived on scene.
Some neighbors wondered why the man wasn't in custody if he was a person of interest in Friday's homicide. Deputies say a person of interest doesn't necessarily mean they're suspected of murder.
"He was a person of interest. We are not specifying whether he was a witness, a suspect or other. He was a person of interest in the case," said Sgt. Eric Palmberg with the Eldorado County Sheriff's Office.
That man's death was also ruled suspicious in nature, but deputies say that categorization comes when investigators can't figure out the cause of death.
Deputies don't believe there is an immediate threat to the public.