Donald Herbert Nielsen, 67, of DeLand, Florida, was shot to death in a wooded homeless encampment behind the Dollar General at 745 N. Spring Garden Avenue on the night of August 18, 2025. DeLand police were called after a man later arrested in the case reported he had been attacked and had shot his alleged attacker. Officers found Nielsen dead, a firearm leaning against a tree, a spent shotgun shell, a baseball bat about 25 feet from the body, and a knife under brush nearby.

Investigators say Nielsen had been struck twice by high-brass turkey loads from a 20-gauge shotgun: one blast to the inner area of his right knee and a second to the back of his head, with shotgun-shell wadding found in the skull suggesting a close-range head wound. Police describe inconsistencies in the person arrested, Charles Eugene Iseman’s, accounts of what happened; Iseman told officers he acted in self-defense and later requested an attorney.

Who in DeLand might have known Nielsen’s routine in the camp or witnessed activity near the Dollar General that night?