INDIANTOWN, Fla. — Martin County detectives are still trying to find the person who they believe may have stabbed two people, killing one over the weekend near the Blue Moon nightclub in Indiantown.
Detectives believe Romeo Marcos Francisco-Francisco, 20, might also be tied to more violent crimes in the past.
Law enforcement officers said the victims, some witnesses and Francisco-Francisco are undocumented, making it harder for them to track down their person of interest and gain new information and leads.
"If they're a victim of a crime, if they're a witness to a crime, we really want them to come forward and not be afraid of us," Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said.
Snyder said early Saturday morning, deputies were called to a stabbing and found one person dead about a block away from the Blue Moon nightclub.
"The biggest hurdle at first was just identifying the victim," Snyder said.
Through their investigation, detectives learned there was a second stabbing victim who left the scene and went to his nearby home.
"Thankfully, he survived," Snyder said.
However, detectives believe he had no intention of reporting the crime because he is undocumented.
"We have a victim, a stabbing victim — I mean, a neck wound that's serious — doesn't report it to law enforcement," Snyder said. "That's bad for all of us. That's bad for the community."
Eventually, detectives said the victim identified Francisco-Francisco as his attacker and they learned he may have also stabbed someone else several weeks earlier.
"We're afraid he'll offend again," Snyder said. "He's offended twice and one of the offenses was two victims. So we really want to get our hands on him."
That is why they are trying to reassure witnesses or anyone with information about Francisco-Francisco that they just want information that could help them locate him, and they have no interest in their legal status.
"That's something for the federal government to deal with," Snyder said. "We have no authority to deal with that aspect of it. But, unfortunately, the people here don't know that."
That fear, he said, likely leads to even more crimes going unreported.
"There's probably a whole level of violent crime and property crimes that we never hear about," Snyder said. "If we get into a situation where people are not reporting crime, it sets up a pattern where you're going to get more and more crime."
If anyone has any information about Francisco-Francisco, they're being asked to call the Martin County Sheriff's Office at 772-220-7060 or call 911.