Body in woods may be suspect accused of stabbing woman 100 times, police say

Florida resident Dianna Kessler was found brutally stabbed to death Monday night at a home in Port Orange. Police were searching for Thomas McMullen in connection with her death.

Credit: Rafael Riveria

Credit: Rafael Riveria

Florida resident Dianna Kessler was found brutally stabbed to death Monday night at a home in Port Orange. Police were searching for Thomas McMullen in connection with her death.

A body found in a wooded area in Volusia County, Florida, may be that of a man wanted for the violent stabbing death of a woman in Port Orange, police say.

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Police believe the body of Thomas McMullen, Jr. was found around 11 a.m. Friday near where the victim's car was found Tuesday.

The body of 32-year-old Dianna Kessler was found Monday night in a home in Port Orange. Police said she had been stabbed more than 100 times. Police said McMullen, a friend hers, is the suspect.

A photo of murder suspect Thomas McMullen. Police believe a body found Friday morning is that of McMullen, who was wanted in connection with the death of his friend, Dianna Kessler.

Credit: Port Orange Police Department

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Credit: Port Orange Police Department

Port Orange Police have yet to officially confirm the body found on Friday is McMullen's. They are waiting for the medical examiner to make a positive identification. Police said it appears McMullen killed himself.

Investigators said they connected Kessler to McMullen after a family friend found her body at the home of the suspect’s parents, who were out of town at the time.

Read: 'She was in a fight for her life': Woman was stabbed more than 100 times, police say

“There’s somebody on the kitchen on the floor. There’s blood all over them,” the 911 caller told police Monday.

“I’m sure she got loose from him and made it to that kitchen," said Kessler's father, Wyatt Davis. "And I’m sure he might even have a few wounds of his own,” Davis said Thursday.

READ: ‘Turn him in. Man up’: Family, friends plead for surrender of daughter’s killer

Daytona Beach police found Kessler’s 1998 Buick Regal abandoned off International Speedway Boulevard – 9 miles from the crime scene – the day after Kessler was found.

Police said the motive for the killing remains unclear.

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