Justin Bechtold was a 25-year-old from Sebastian, Florida, who had been preparing to take over his family’s well-drilling business. Family members described him as funny, generous, and outdoorsy; he enjoyed camping, fishing, boating, and riding four-wheelers, and had recently moved to a home in south Vero Beach.

On the afternoon of August 8, 2021, deputies responded to a 911 call at his home in the 4300 block of 5th Street Southwest and found Justin in his driveway with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Investigators say the shooting occurred during a marijuana transaction and that Justin had been buying marijuana for about a year from a man identified as Dukarai Lee Thomas.

Authorities reported Thomas fled to the Tallahassee area after the shooting; his vehicle was later found abandoned and concealed in Gifford. Thomas was arrested in Tallahassee in September 2021 on a charge related to the drug deals and later faced a murder warrant. If anyone knew Justin, his movements that afternoon, or saw a vehicle abandoned in Gifford, what information can be shared with investigators?