HUDSON, Fla. (AP) - A man suspected in the deaths of four people and the disappearance of a 4-year-old autistic boy was arrested as SWAT teams swarmed a downtown Tampa hotel Friday, ending an intense manhunt since the bodies were found a day earlier stacked on top of each other outside as birds circled above.
Adam Matos, 28, had checked into the Floridan Palace Hotel using his own name, and police said they tricked him out of his room on the historic building's 18th floor and away from the child.
Authorities said they believe Matos is Ismael Tristan Santisteban's father, but a DNA test is pending.
"I love my son and I hope that he's safe right now," Matos said to reporters as he was led to a police car outside the hotel. He denied killing the victims or knowing who did. Officials said an investigator who specializes in talking to autistic children was interviewing Ismael. They were not sure whether he might have witnesses the killings.
The names of the four victims had not been released because the medical examiner hadn't positively identified the bodies, which were found in nearby Hudson, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
Matos is the only suspect in their deaths, authorities said, but they released only a few details about what led them to the man, who had recently come to Florida from Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.
Court records there show he had been arrested numerous times for harassment, theft, burglary, trespassing, assault and driving under the influence. He pleaded guilty to some of the charges, and others appear to have been dismissed.
The boy had last been seen at his Pasco County home Aug. 28. The boy's mother called police and said Matos had threatened her with a knife and then fled, Nocco said. She told investigators she was scared of Matos, but authorities could not find him.
On Thursday, Pasco sheriff's deputies were conducting a welfare check at a home in Hudson, about an hour and a half from downtown Tampa. They found no one home but noticed a bad odor in the area. They walked toward it, about three-quarters of a mile down the street, and found the four bodies - two men and two women - in a pile. They had apparently been there for several days, officials said.
Nocco said Matos had been seen in that area recently and quickly became a suspect in the deaths.
A tip from a cab driver who had driven a man and a little boy to Tampa led officials downtown, Nocco said. There, witnesses said they'd seen Matos at a bus station, asking about fares. Authorities said they thought he planned to travel to Key West. A ticket wasn't available, officials said, so he headed to the hotel.
Once he checked in - and called the front desk at least once, asking how to connect to the Internet - staff called police, and the SWAT team gathered in the lobby.
After Matos' arrest, the boy seemed fine, said Jane Castor, Tampa's police chief. "He is in good spirits," she told a news conference. She said she did not know whether Matos had a weapon in the room. Matos' initial court appearance was scheduled for Saturday in Hillsborough County on charges of aggravated assault stemming from the Aug. 28 incident.
Hours after Matos' arrest Friday, Pasco deputies blocked outsiders from the street in Hudson where the bodies were found. Only residents were allowed to pass.
A crime scene truck from the sheriff's office was parked in front of the salmon-colored stucco home where deputies originally visited for the welfare check.
Neighbors said the homes on Hatteras Street all abut canals leading to the Gulf of Mexico. Many residents have docks or boats in back of their homes.
The area is dotted with fish shacks, and the neighborhood is filled with larger homes, some smaller houses and many retirees. But it's also a place where some working-class people can afford waterfront property.
Mark Evans and Becky Steen are siblings who run a storage facility and landscaping service that overlooks the area where the bodies were found.
"It's been quiet around here," Evans said. "We mow some lawns over on that street, and we didn't see anything out of the ordinary."