Marion County deputies have found a person of interest in the homicide of a woman Monday morning.

  • Deputies searched for person of interest in homicide case
  • Woman was found between apartments near Lake Lillian in Belleview
  • Man was wanted for questioning in connection to homicide

Deputies said there was a traffic crash in the 9400 block of SE Baseline Road, also known as SR 58th Avenue, and SE 92nd Place Road in the Belleview area. One of the people was seen getting out of the vehicle with a handgun. The man then fled the area. 

Sheriff's Office K-9 units and helicopters pursued the man, who was found in some shrubbery at a home in the area. Deputies said he wasn't cooperative and then shot himself. The man, Frank Ralston Friday, is in critical condition at a hospital, Marion County Sheriff's spokeswoman Lauren Lettelier said.

Earlier in the day, at about 8:30 a.m., Belleview Police officers responded to the 5900 block of SE Front Road, where they found a dead woman between apartments. The man was a person of interest in the Belleview Police investigation, deputies said.


Frank Ralston Friday (Marion County Sheriff's Office)

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. Anyone with information on this incident is asked call Belleview Police at 352-245-7044.