Michael Harris Jr. DeLand, Florida man charged with murder of Bobby Scott Daytona Beach man he met through online dating app.
A 20 year old Florida man has been charged with murder after the body of a missing 63 year old restaurant manager — who he met through an online dating app, was found over the weekend.
Michael Harris Jr., 20, of DeLand, was arrested Sunday on a second-degree murder charge in the death of 63-year-old Bobby Scott, whose husband reported him missing on Jan. 17 when he didn’t return home, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies found Harris with Scott’s vehicle two days later in DeLand, where he told investigators the Daytona Beach restaurant manager had loaned it to him and hadn’t heard from him since. But Scott’s husband with whom the victim had an open relationship with, told police he didn’t give out his car to anyone, authorities said.
A subsequent investigation revealed Scott met up with Harris on Jan. 17 and ‘was never heard from again,’ sheriff officials said. Harris was arrested after his ‘bloody fingerprints’ were found inside Scott’s vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
Scott’s husband told investigators the pair could date outside their marriage. Scott’s body was discovered Sunday in DeLand, sheriff officials said.
Online predator history
Scott picked up Harris before they drove around DeLand, where they allegedly had sex in Harris’ parked vehicle. Investigators suspect Scott then fatally beat him afterward with a piece of wood and a beer bottle, Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
‘The victim died of blunt force trauma,’ Chitwood said, characterizing Harris as an online predator. ‘Michael Harris has a history of posing as a gay prostitute and blackmailing and robbing the victims, and in this case, murdering the victim.’
In his last message to his husband, according to police, Scott, wrote: ‘May stop at a guy’s house too.’
Harris told investigators he was friends with Scott – a manager at a Caribbean Jack’s restaurant in Dayton Beach – and that he paid the man to use his car for a week. Investigators suspect Harris may have killed Scott the day he met him, Chitwood said.
Harris remained held without bond on a charge of second-degree murder with a weapon, online records show. He’s also expected to face charges of carjacking, Chitwood said.
‘The only explanation is the car,’ the sheriff said of a possible motive. ‘The victim didn’t carry cash.’
