By Amy C. Rippel and David A. Collins | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted December 2, 2003, 7:32 AM EST ORANGE CITY -- Volusia County investigators said a mother and her two sons who were found dead inside a small home in a quiet neighborhood Monday night are homicide victims.
Investigators said they found signs of a struggle in the home at 765 Biscayne Drive in the Breezewood Park subdivision just south of Orange City. Carmen Negron, 63, and her two sons, Gilberto Vergara-Negron, 28, and Yamir Orlando Vergara-Negron, 26, were found dead in the home.
"This is the kind of stuff you don't think about happening in Orange City, just in bigger cities," said Hector Rivera, 19, who said he was the victims' cousin. "Everybody is freaked out about it."
About 7:30 p.m. Monday, the three bodies were found inside the home by a friend or a passer-by, investigators said.
Authorities said they are looking for a 1995 white Honda Civic DX, with license-plate number IR061B, that is associated with one of the victims, sheriff's officials said. According to records, the car belongs to Carmen Negron. The car was last seen Sunday.
Many people standing outside the home, which was surrounded by crime scene tape, said the people who lived there were very religious with strong ties to the Jehovah's Witnesses church.
Gabriel Torres, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall in DeBary, said he knew the family who lived in the home.
"They were a very humble family. All they did and all we do is serve Jehovah," he said.
Mike Gonzalez, 59, who lives a few blocks away and jogs by their house frequently, saw Negron just the other day while she was doing yard work. He said she has lived there with her sons for about seven years.
"We've never had anything like this in the neighborhood. They're quiet, they're very nice, they don't drink or smoke or anything like that. How could that happen?" he said. "This is a tragedy. These people don't bother anybody."
Susan Pirolo, 36, who lives in the neighborhood, said the community has always been quiet.
Pirolo said she didn't notice anything unusual at the home in the past few days. On Mondays, the family hosted church gatherings at the house.
"There's no crime in this neighborhood," she said. "None. This is an old neighborhood," Pirolo said. "We watch each other's houses."
Charlene Hager-Van Dyke of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Amy C. Rippel can be reached at arippel@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5736. David A. Collins can be reached at dcollins@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7922.