Deputies Respond to Apparent Suicide Attempt at Country Hearth Inn on Old Dixie Highway

A sheriff’s spokesperson said deputies on patrol first noticed a motor home parked in the parking lot of the vacant motel “and wanted to do a welfare check to make sure everyone was ok.” The deputies were going to let the occupants know they could stay there for the rest of the night, but would have to move along. First contact was made around 3 a.m.

Once they made contact, “they felt there was something medically wrong with the person in the vehicle,” the spokesperson said. “They believe that the person was harming themselves, so they had to strategically make entry, and the person is now being transported to the hospital.”

The man in the vehicle was alone. He was “in need of medical attention and was not able to communicate” with deputies, the spokesperson said, confirming that it was a suicide attempt. “That’s what it looks like right now. The investigation will of course determine more of what happened, but at this moment that is how it appears.”

At the moment the sheriff’s office had no information to disclose regarding whether a weapon was used, or regarding the identity and age of the victim.

Sheriff’s units were still at the scene this morning, just before 8 a.m. Traffic had briefly been impeded earlier in the morning, but was flowing freely at daybreak. The sheriff’s office issued a notice about the incident to reassure residents that there were no security issues, and no one (other than the victim of apparent self-harm) was in danger.

“People see a bunch of cops and they want to know what’s going on, but there was no threat to anyone,” the spokesperson said.

The Country Hearth Inn, previously owned by Palm Beach-based Poonam Properties, closed in 2009, according to licensure documentation with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.