News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 26

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA B4 Local State THE NEWS-PRESS SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2008 FORECLOSURE CRISIS CAPE CORAL Stoneybrook neighbors Police say homeless man clean up vacant properties died after fight over beer Suspect found after four-hour manhunt "But when I went to see Dan, he was covered in blood, the ground was colored in blood. It Photo gallery: View scenes from what was a homeless camp in the Cape. Discussion: Start a forum on this topic by becoming a registered member of or you can participate in "story chat" at the bottom of the story. iff nil I i- 'V Island Coast I High School lr-JWahTech Hector Caff worth Junior Bementary Location lon Hancock Bridge Pkwy. of homicide "ride STEPHEN HAYFORDTHE NEWS-PRESS Stoneybrook at Gateway residents Ernie Maier, 68, left, and Gene Becker, 40, right, fill a tub with mulch to clean up the appearance of a home not maintained after a foreclosure.

Residents came together Saturday to improve the aesthetics of 23 homes in the neighborhood. Cape Coral mile Volunteers help pull community together BY PEDRO MORALES One day Hal Green's neighbor lost his job. Shortly after, the man, his wife and two children were moving out of their Fort Myers home. That's when the prickly weeds started swelling, the trees and bushes tangled up and the red mulch lost its color. And then another home at Stoneybrook at Gateway was abandoned.

And then another. And another. It continued until residents could no longer ignore the rash of foreclosures in their neighborhood. "I care about how we look, about keeping it up," Green, 81,. said Saturday, as he and about a dozen volunteers trimmed trees, edged lawns, pulled weeds and dumped a fresh batch of mulch on 23 houses in foreclosure.

"I'm retired, I like to be out- doors, I love my neighbors," said Green, who for the past four months, once a week, has been maintaining his former neighbor's home as well. Foreclosures in Lee County have become a common sight in the past year In 2007, there a record 10,700 foreclo-" sures in Lee, according to sta-l tistics released in March by the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association. In 2006, there were 3,923. What makes the Stoney-" brook neighborhood different is that residents are refusing to let the foreclosed houses define their neighborhood. "It does affect the entire community when we have this BY JACOB OGLES When Daniel Louisda moved to the woods in north Cape Coral, family said he wanted a lifestyle with no obligations.

"He wanted to live that life," said mother Barbara Zaitz. The 51-year-old's carefree lifestyle came to a violent end in a fight over beer and a food card, said people who lived with Louisda in a homeless camp. Cape Coral police arrested Charles Stone IV, charging him with second-degree murder. Police found Louisda around 4:20 a.m. Friday after transient John Wrensch called 91L "I feel like I've lost a brother," transient Jeff Brown said of Louisda.

Brown and Wrensch said they were with Louisda and Stone when a fight broke out at the camp, located in a wooded area northeast of the intersection of Santa Barbara Boulevard and Pine Island Road. Wrensch said Stone, who lived in a different camp behind Roger Dean's Chevrolet on Pine Island Road, frequently visited and took beer, but never shared what he had. "He was greedy," Wrensch said. When Stone pulled a knife out during a dispute, Brown and Wrensch said they left the camp. Stone later told police he beat Louisda with a bar stool, a table leg and a guitar before stabbing him multiple times, according to police spokeswoman Dyan Lee.

The homeless men said Stone and Louisda were alone about 20 minutes before Stone appeared covered in blood. He said he killed Louisda, Brown and Wrensch said. Photo gallery: Cape residents pitch in to improve landscaping along neighborhood streets. LOUISDA turned my Livedincampon stomach," Pine Island Road Brown said. Brown said Stone threatened to kill anyone who called police.

After the men covered Louis-da's body, Wrensch said he fled to a pay phone at the Petro America Convenience Store and called police. When Wrensch returned, Stone fled. Police said they found Stone hiding on Santa Barbara Boule- vard after a four-hour manhunt. Saturday morning, Louisda's sister Cynthia Louisda came to the camp in the hopes of retrieving her brother's belongings. She said her brother lived in the woods for the past three to four years.

She took him in for a time, providing him with work as a house painter, but said he always wanted his freedom. "He was just happy out here and just loved it," Cynthia Louisda said. Wrensch recalls first meeting Daniel Louisda in woods south of Pine Island Road. The men set up a camp there before a shopping center was built Years later, Brown said he met Daniel Louisda at the camp behind the Chevron station where he was found dead. The men struggled to earn money through construction jobs, Wrensch and Brown said.

But life at the camp was comfortable enough. A worn couch was arranged near a portable television and stereo Saturday. Tarps sheltered many homes in foreclosure," said Jeremy Toback, 34. "We care about the neighborhood, we really do." The obvious reason for their concern is money. There are almost 800 homes in the neighborhood, east of Interstate 75, that during the real estate boom ranged in from $350,000 to $500,000.

"It's important for property values to keep them up," said Ned Bolton, 66. "This is a very close-knit community, with a lot of families, a lot of people who made a substantial investment." But money alone doesn't explain why these volunteers spent their Saturday, and $400 worth of mulch, maintaining an empty house. "We try to keep the community involved with each other," Toback said. Indeed, as one of the THE NEWS-PRESS people -from the heat and sun. On the ground by a broken table was a book of hymns and a Monopoly board, the name "Big Dan" written on it Brown and Wrensch said they aren't welcome at the camp any more.

They said they tried returning to the camp Friday, but police pointed their guns at them and took them to Fort Myers, where they stayed on benches at Centennial Park. Police didn't confirm the story. Lee said the city clears out homeless camps as soon as they're discovered. "We've chased them out before and they come back," Lee said of Louisda's camp. Brown and Wrensch said they feel as if they're being punished.

"We did the right thing and called police, and now we have nowhere to go," Wrensch said. younger communities in Gateway, according to Toback, Stoneybrook leaders host a variety of events to keep neighbors active and entertained. They have the Street Challenge games twice a year, where residents of each street compete in a variety of ball games and have a chili cook-off. They host father-daughter dances and communitywide garage sales. It seems to have paid off.

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