Case in relation to Poarch man found dead

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has a person of interest in custody in Washington County, Fla. in connection with the Poarch man that was found dead on his property by family members on Nov. 1 in Atmore, Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said Tuesday.

While the sheriff’s office has a person in custody, the victim’s identity remains in question.

Lambert said he’s waiting on dental records to come in from the lab right now.

“We feel confident that it is Mr. Daniel Fox,” Lambert said. “We feel confident in that. Until the lab is able to verify his identity through DNA and the dental record, I can’t say with certainty.”

Last week, family members told ECSO deputies that they had not seen or heard from Fox in approximately a week, but had not reported him missing. Instead, they decided to search the property and discovered Fox’s body outside, lying on the ground of his Ewing Farm Road home just after lunch on Nov. 1.

Lambert said last week that the death is being investigated as “suspicious, but all deaths are treated as homicides until proven otherwise.”

A cause of death was not released, and Lambert said the body was taken to the Department of Forensics Sciences in Mobile for an autopsy.

Lambert said the victim’s 1992 Ford F-150 pickup truck was missing from the residence.