Thursday, December 2, 2010

A murder in Celebration

It seems that not everyone has been happy living in the Town Built by the Happiest Place on Earth.
Celebration, Disney's master-planned, picture-perfect central Florida community, has never reported a homicide in its 14-year existence — until this week.

Residents of the town five miles south of Walt Disney World woke up Tuesday to the sight of yellow crime-scene tape wrapped around a condo near the Christmas-decorated downtown, where Bing Crosby croons from speakers hidden in the foliage. A 58-year-old neighbor who lived alone with his Chihuahua had been slain over the long Thanksgiving weekend, Osceola County sheriff's deputies said.

The community's famous friendliness is what brought investigators to Matteo Giovanditto's body: Neighbors hadn't seen him for days, so they filed a missing person's report, then went into his condo a day later and found him.


Town officials claimed this to be an isolated incident. What would they have said at the beginning of last week, if asked if there were ever to be a murder in their fair town?

UPDATED: More tragedy in Celebration. Craig Foushee committed suicide after barricading himself in his home.

"Just because this is Celebration doesn't mean everyone's perfect," said Eva Medved, who lived across the street from Foushee. "People die, people get divorced, people get in trouble."

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