ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A St. Johns County man suspected in his father’s death and his wife were found dead Thursday in a Daytona Beach hotel in an apparent double suicide, according to Daytona Beach police.
Deputies were searching for Joseph Reddock Jr., 41, after his 70-year-old father was found dead Wednesday at their home in St. Johns County.
Authorities said Thursday morning they found the 1999 Honda Accord in Volusia County when serving a search warrant unrelated to the incident at the hotel. Police said Reddock Jr. was registered to the room next door to the one police were searching at the Regency Hotel.
Authorities in Volusia County saw two people, who appear to be a man and woman, moving inside the hotel room. Blinds were opened and the people inside the room were staring at police, said Daytona Beach Police Department Deputy Chief Craig Capri. Police attempted to make contact with Reddock Jr.
Police in Daytona Beach were warned by St. Johns authorities that Reddock Jr. would be violent with police. Gas was deployed into the hotel room and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Daytona Beach Police Department with its robot, which made its way in the hotel room and found the bodies.
One of the people found dead was identified by Daytona Beach Police as Reddock Jr. During a Thursday afternoon news conference, Capri identified the woman's body as Samantha Reddock, the wife of Reddock Jr.
One person was found dead on the bed, one was found dead on the floor, both from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Capri said. A note was left in the Daytona Beach hotel and at the Ponte Vedra Beach home where Reddock Sr. was found dead.
Also found in the hotel room were multiple guns and ammo -- semi-automatic rifles, handguns, a shot gun and boxes of ammo.
"It was basically an armory," Capri said. It could have been a dangerous situation, especially if Reddock Jr. thought police were coming for him in the initial search.
"He was armed to the teeth ready to do battle," Capri said.
How the incident started in St. Johns County
On Wednesday, St. Johns County deputies came by to check on Joe Reddock Sr. after a friend of Reddock Jr. called them concerned. The victim was found in the Sawmill Lakes Subdivision home in Ponte Vedra Beach during the wellness check.
“All indications were that it was not a natural death, and that he had been the victim of violence,” said St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar.
It appears he may have been dead since Sunday, according to Shoar. The Medical Examiner's Office on Thursday morning ruled Reddock Sr.'s cause of death as blunt force trauma.
Action News Jax Russell Colburn spoke to the victim's niece on Facebook. "Our hearts are broken," she said. "Our family has never seen this type of tragedy firsthand."
According to a source, Reddock Jr.'s mom died on June 1.
Court records show Reddock Jr. has an extensive arrest history and there were at least two domestic violence filings related to them.
In 2015, Reddock Sr. petitioned for a domestic violence injunction against his son, but it was lifted about a month later. There was another domestic violence case in 2005.
Neighbors said they didn't see the Reddocks often, but that they were an odd family that kept to themselves.
The investigation is ongoing.
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