Polk sheriff: Dangerous murder suspect loose in Winter Haven

Residents urged to stay inside while double murder suspect on the loose

The Polk County sheriff says anyone living in the Dundee Road area of unincorporated Winter Haven should stay inside and be cautious because a "spree killer" is on the loose.

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Polk County sheriff says anyone living in the Dundee Road area of Winter Haven should stay inside and be cautious because a "spree killer" is on the loose.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said deputies are looking for 35-year-old Stanley Eric Mossburg, also known as "Woo Woo."

Mossburg was described as a white male who is 5'9" tall and weighs 131 pounds, and he has several tattoos.

Mossburg allegedly killed a man in Tennessee earlier this month before coming to Florida, where he killed a man and woman, held another man hostage, and claimed to have killed others, which the sheriff said had not been confirmed.

Sheriff Grady Judd said Mossburg's crimes in Polk County appear to have begun Sunday night around 10:30, when a man came home to find his two roommates, a man and a woman, murdered by Mossburg, who was still inside the home.

Mossburg allegedly told the man he would not be harmed because God told him not to. However, Judd said Mossburg held the man hostage until around noon Monday.

Mossburg then left in the victim's car, a black Hyundai, which was gone from the scene, but then showed up about a block away as deputies investigated the deaths.

Before coming to Polk County, Judd said Mossburg is wanted for killing a man and leaving him behind a laundromat in Greene County, Tennessee on Oct. 1.

Judd said Mossburg then traveled to Spartanville, South Carolina, where his sister bought him a bus ticket to Orlando, Florida. On Oct. 10, Judd said Mossburg pawned property at a pawn shop in Auburndale.

Meanwhile, the US Marshals and multiple local law enforcement agencies have been tracking and searching for Mossburg, who apparently told the man he held hostage he had killed as many as eight people. Sheriff Judd said they had not confirmed any additional murders.