LEESBURG, Florida—Leesburg Police Department and the U.S Marshals served a search warrant Tuesday morning in their quest to find a man who left court last week in the middle of his trial, but came up empty, LPD Capt. Joe Iozzi told Inside Lake.
LPD and the U.S. Marshals searched the home on East Street, near Dixie Avenue, but nobody was home, Iozzi said. The scene caused a commotion and garnered several posts on popular Facebook word of mouth groups Tuesday morning.
“The (U.S.) Marshals task force acquired a search warrant for the house,” Iozzi said in a text.
Zachery Maurice Waldo, 36, was on trial last week for killing Christopher Smith, 44, his wife, Jessica Smith, 35, and their daughter Hailey Smith, 13, all of Eustis. Their son Hunter, just 11 years old, was the sole survivor in the vehicle his family was riding in. Christopher and Jessica died on the scene of the Christmas Eve 2019 crash and Hailey died on Christmas Day 2019.
Last week, as his trial was underway, Waldo left the Lake County Courthouse on a lunch break and never came back, and Leesburg Police Department began searching for him. He was found guilty in absentia the same day.
If you have information on Waldo’s whereabouts, call LPD at 352-728-9860.
Man Accused of Killing Family in 2019 DUI Christmas Eve Crash Leaves Trial for Lunch and Never Comes Back, Found Guilty in Absentia
