Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Neighbors fearful after man found dead
An exclusive Fort Lauderdale neighborhood was rocked by the killing of a resident who died from head injuries, a county official said.
Guy Hamilton Eargle Jr. was found dead Monday night in the Colee Hammock neighborhood, south of East Las Olas Boulevard, in a house where the late, prominent businesswoman Elizabeth “B.J” Huizenga Buntrock once lived.
Police won’t say who found the body or why Eargle, 68, may have been targeted.
Fearful neighbors, who did not want to be identified, worried there may have been a home invasion, or worse, that it was during a random attack that the retired businessman was killed.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue was called to the white, walled property at about 6:15 p.m. on Monday night, but no one was taken to a hospital, the agency said.
The home is near the Tarpon River and two blocks from the 105-year-old First Presbyterian Church.
It was not known exactly when Eargle died, the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday.
Buntrock was 80 when she died in July 2014. The house is owned and rented out by her estate.
Also known as “Betty,” in 1983 she founded the Flowers & Found Objects store, a business on East Las Olas Boulevard that is still in operation.
Buntrock also dedicated herself to charity, including a nonprofit called The Pantry of Broward that donated food to grandparents who were raising their grandkids.
She was a first cousin of local billionaire businessman and former Miami Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga.
Eargle, the estate’s tenant, was not related to Buntrock, a Buntrock family member said.
Eargle’s Facebook page said he was a retired telecommunications executive. Eargle Jr.
Eargle also played baseball in the minor leagues from 1960-1971 in Florida and California, according to baseball-reference.com. A first baseman and outfielder, Eargle was a 13th-round draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 1969 from the University of South Carolina.
He was a part-time resident of Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta, police said.
Fort Lauderdale police cars and a crime scene technician van were still parked outside the property on Wednesday afternoon, nearly 48 hours after the body was found.
Neighbors said a white Ferrari was often parked in the driveway, and that police officers were asking homeowners for surveillance video.
Fort Lauderdale police ask anyone with information to call Detective Mark Breen at 954-828-5708 or Detective Jason Wood, at 954-828-5344.