Larry Franklin Tucker, Jr. - ARRESTED

On the evening of October 21, 2007 an unknown male entered the home of a 65 year old woman in Tavares. The male attacked the victim, forced her to perform sex acts on him, and violently sexually battered her for 2 hours prior to leaving on foot.

The suspect’s DNA was collected from the crime scene and entered into CODIS, however a match has never been made.

In 2018 the Lake County Sheriff's Office partnered with Parabon NanoLabs to generate a Parabon Snapshot using the suspect’s DNA collected from the crime scene. Snapshot uses a person’s DNA to develop a physical profile and “composite sketch” of what the person may look like. In January 2022, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Genetic Genealogy Investigations team and Parabon NanoLabs began genetic genealogy research on this suspect. In October of 2025 a lead was forwarded to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, which identified a person of interest. Detectives traveled to Ohio to interview this subject and obtain his DNA through a search warrant. FDLE's laboratory confirmed that the DNA collected from the subject in Ohio was a match to the suspect profile obtained in the 2007 sexual battery case. Based on this information, the Lake County Sheriff's Office obtained an arrest warrant for Larry Franklin Tucker, Jr. for Sexual Battery, Occupied Burglary to a Dwelling with Battery, and Kidnapping. Larry Tucker, Jr. was arrested the following day and extradited to Lake County where he will face these charges after 18 years on the run.

Detectives are continuing the investigation and anyone with information on Larry Franklin Tucker, Jr. can contact the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

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