By Juliana A. Torres
Staff Writer

St. Cloud police are investigating the death of a 71-year-old man, found dead in his St. Cloud home Wednesday, as a homicide and are looking for a suspect.

A neighbor and friend of Charles Kilpatrick stopped by his house at 800 California Ave. Wednesday morning, found him dead and called 911, Capt. Bret Dunn, of the St. Cloud Police Department, said.

Police, responding to the suspicious death at 11:41 a.m., reported that Kilpatrick had  “significant injuries” to his head, police reported. Investigators have classified the case as a homicide.

The 27-year-old named as the primary suspect in the investigation, Christopher Shipley, is believed to be driving Kilpatrick’s pickup truck, which police did not find at the house. Investigators know the victim's car was at his house.

“We have good information that the suspect was seen in the car after the offense,” Dunn said. “We do suspect that Mr. Shipley is still in possession of the vehicle.”

Investigators believe Shipley was in the Sanford area at some point Wednesday night but were still following leads, Dunn said. They also said Kilpatrick likely died Tuesday, the night before he was found.

“We believe that it happened sometime between 9 and 11 o'clock,” Dunn said.

The truck, a blue 1990 Dodge pickup, has the Florida tag D396WG. Anyone with information on the homicide, including the whereabouts of Shipley or Kilpatrick’s truck, can call the St. Cloud Police Department at 407-891-6700 or anonymously through Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.