Polk Sheriff still searching for man last seen near Driggers Road

Lina PortmanMay 29, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Ethan Fussell has been missing for three weeks. And the two men last seen with him – one of whom is a convicted felon – can't be found by law enforcement either.

Fussell was last seen north of Lakeland on May 7, in the rural area of Tom Costine and Driggers roads. The Polk County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating his disappearance, posted a missing person poster on its Facebook page eight days later.

His mother is heartbroken and wants answers which are still not available as the case is under investigation.

“My son is not a bad person, but he trusted the wrong people,” Carolyn Jackson said Tuesday via Facebook Messenger. “He considered these two like family, according to his girlfriend, and they turned out to be nothing but fakes.”

Sheriff Grady Judd has released photos of two men who are persons of interest to the investigation. They are Talon Isaac Page and Adonai Moran Rivera, and arrest warrants have been issued for them. The sheriff has not yet released the charges.

Court records show Page, 25, of 1116 Driggers Road, was previously arrested by the Lakeland Police Department in March 2020 for assault on law enforcement, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon guilty and knowingly driving with a suspended/revoked license. At age 19, Page was charged with aggravated battery after a fight with a man at the same intersection where Fussell was last seen.

In April 2019, at the age of 17, Rivera was arrested for burglary with five other teenagers after deputies responded to reports that teenagers were seen trying to break into a car on Rangers Path in Lakeland, the Ledger previously reported. No adult charges against Rivera could be found in a check of Polk Clerk of Courts records.

Fussell, 21, was last seen at a mobile home on Driggers Road in Lakeland. Court records show Page lived at the home.

“This particular location is known, according to some neighbors, for heavy incoming and outgoing traffic, possibly drug sales or use,” Judd said in a report from WFLA in Tampa.

Judd said Fussell was seen on the Driggers Road property arguing with someone, according to the report.

In a television interview, Fussell's sister last saw her brother dining on the night of May 7. His mother explained the difficult times the family is going through following Fussell's disappearance.

“It's been very, very difficult to sit and wait knowing that with each day that goes by your son probably won't come home alive,” Jackson said.

Judd said the search had shifted to a death investigation.

“The sad news is that we are investigating this case as if he were deceased and we are praying that he is alive, which I highly doubt,” Judd said by phone Tuesday. “We have spoken to the mother and she understands the seriousness of the situation, but we are still praying for the best outcome.”

Judd said he called the family members “good people” and said they were cooperating with the investigation. He said they had offered a $10,000 reward for information on their son's whereabouts.

Sharon Eileen Page is named in a Sheriff's Office charging affidavit filed Tuesday as Talon Page's caretaker at the mobile home at 1116 Driggers Road. She was charged with environmental crimes, including third-degree felony pollution intended to harm humans, animals and plants. Two additional misdemeanor charges were filed.

The affidavit also said there was an open lid on a septic tank attracting flies, and the property contained dead opossums, motor oil, car parts and up to 300 tires containing l water and breeding a swarm of mosquitoes.

Regarding the woman's body found about a half-mile from Fussell's last known location, Judd said the medical examiner was performing toxicology tests on the corpse, but the woman's death appeared to have no connection to Fussell's disappearance. .

Lina Portman

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