Port Orange police find body of person-of-interest in murder

Port Orange Police Department detectives on Friday located what is believed to be the body of a man who was identified as a a person-of-interest in the death of a woman.

The body, believed to be that of Thomas McMullen Jr., was located around 11 a.m. in a wooded area, near the 2500 block of W. International Speedway Blvd.

"An autopsy will be scheduled in the near future to make positive identification and determine the cause of death however, at this time, it appears to be a suicide," said Port Orange Police Department spokesman Officer Evan Doyle.

According to investigators, the body of 32-year-old Diana Kessler was found inside a Port Orange home on Hatteras Drive on Monday, by someone who was stopping by to feed a pet.  

"I found somebody dead in the house," a caller told a 911 operator. "Oh my God. I am a wreck!"

Preliminary autopsy results later indicated that Kessler had an excess of 100 stab wounds and blunt force trauma to her  head.  She also displayed several defensive wounds on her extremities.

Officers determined that Kessler was the victim of a homicide and was not a resident of the home. Police say the home belongs to the parents of 37-year-old Thomas McMullen, who was later named as a person of interest in the case.

Kessler and McMullen were known to each other, according to police.  No other details were immediately released.