Police have launched a homicide investigation after a woman's body was found in a Miami Beach hotel room Tuesday night.
Miami Beach Police were called to the Sherry Fronternac Hotel, located at 6565 Collins Avenue, just before 7 p.m. after a woman called and asked for a welfare check for her co-worker after not hearing from her for four days.
Officers arrived and found the woman's body in the room. Police have not released the victim's identity, but family members identified her as Marelbi Ruiz Lara.
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Nelson Tabares, who lives in Colombia, told NBC 6 his mother worked in the area and lived in the hotel room with her partner.
Tabares grew concerned after not hearing from his mother for several days and called hotel staff to check in on her in her 10th-floor room. When security opened the door, the mattress was propped against it, making it difficult to open.
"They used blunt force to go in," Tabares said. "The workers of the hotel, after using force ... they didn't find belongings of the two people living there. They got scared. They were nervous."
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Police have not confirmed information on a suspect, but Tabares believes Lara's partner killed her, and then killed himself on the side of a road in Sarasota. Officials have not confirmed this, but the events coincide with a report of a suicide Tuesday on I-75 in the same city.
Miami Beach Police are investigating the scene as a homicide and are following several leads, officials said. There is no threat to the general public.
"I think it’s a terrible thing, right here in the middle of the beach to have this kind of occurrence," said resident Alicia Darias.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
