‘People loved her:’ neighbors, clients remember elderly dog-sitter who was found dead in Fernandina

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Action News Jax has gotten new information about the death of a woman in Fernandina Beach. Police say they’re working tirelessly to find out who killed 73-year-old Colleen Potts and why.

Neighbors tell Action News Jax she was beloved.

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Potts cared for many dogs in the community, locals tell Action News Jax.

One woman whose dogs Potts cared for said she was “a wonderful lady who did not deserve what happened to her.”

”She was an older woman, and it’s sad that it happened,” Kacey Lindsey, a nearby neighbor of Potts said.

Lindsey and many on his street are still in shock that their neighbor is gone.

Fernandina Beach police say officers found Potts dead inside a home on South 13th Street. Neighbors there told Action News Jax she was dog-sitting.

A police report says an officer found her “lying face down on the couch in the living room area.”

Action News Jax spoke with Potts’ partner. He didn’t want to be on camera but said he’d been talking with investigators all day Wednesday.

Many of Potts’ clients are heartbroken.

One person commented on Facebook, saying Potts was “very important to me and my dog... Please get this person who committed this horrible act.”

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Action News Jax spoke to another of Potts’ clients. She said Potts loved animals.

”People loved her,” the client added.

On Facebook, police called Potts’ death a “terrible tragedy,” adding, “We all have plans to pass peacefully in our sleep at a ripe old age, not at the hands of a person with no respect for human life – it’s simply not fair.”

Police say the department is seeking justice for Potts and is working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review evidence taken from the scene.

”I would be devastated if that ever happened to my family or anything like that,” Lindsey said, adding that his heart goes out to Potts and her loved ones.

Police say they would like to share details with the community but do not want to jeopardize the investigation at this time.

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