Police are investigating whether two men suspected of raping and killing gay men in the Tampa area are also responsible for three disappearances in Fort Lauderdale.
One of the suspects, Steven Lorenzo, 46, of Tampa owns a condo across the street from the Drake Tower Condominium, where three gay men have gone missing since 1988. The other, Scott Schweickert, 39, confessed to raping and killing two men picked up at a Tampa bar, according to a federal affidavit.
Fort Lauderdale police have no evidence of a local connection but are handing out fliers and asking for help.
Tampa police and federal drug agents began investigating Lorenzo in 2004.
Neither Lorenzo nor Schweickert has been charged with any killings, although both are in jail. Lorenzo faces seven counts of “drug facilitated crimes of violence,” and Schweickert is charged with being an accessory after the fact. Their lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Fort Lauderdale Detective John Curcio said Lorenzo did not live in his condo in the 1700 block of North Andrews Avenue, but had rented it out.
Drake resident Mark Jackson disappeared June 27, 2004. In June 1988, residents Barry A. Block and David George Rhodes vanished.
Schweickert’s confession is laid out in a detailed, 33-page affidavit, which contained excerpts of the Internet chats he had with Lorenzo regarding potential victims.
Schweickert told police he and Lorenzo met at a Tampa club in 2003, where they met Jason Galehouse and persuaded him to come home with them. Schweickert said Lorenzo later choked Galehouse, and the two dismembered him. Galehouse is still missing.
Then next night, Schweickert said, they picked up Michael Wacholtz and drugged him. Later, they dumped his body in a parking lot. He has been identified through dental records.
Anyone with information is asked to call Curcio at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department at 954-828-5529.
Jamie Malernee can be reached at or 954-356-4849.
Staff researchers Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
