Missing Winter Park nanny’s body found in Orange County

WINTER PARK – Police have found the body of Jennifer Lynn Fulford, 56, following a three-day search after she went missing from a Winter Park home last week.

Fulford, who lived in Altamonte Springs, was last seen Wednesday, Sept. 27, at a home on Webster Avenue in Winter Park where she worked as a nanny. She was also seen on video earlier that day at about 10:30 a.m., leaving a dentist office on Canton Avenue.

According to a Facebook post written by Fulford’s husband, Robert, her purse was found on the floor at her employer's home and her employer called the police when Fulford failed to pick up his son.

“Her first granddaughter was born today and she is not responding to any text(s) or phone calls,” Fulford’s husband, Robert, wrote in the post. “She was planning to fly to Dallas tomorrow to meet her new grandchild. She would never disappear like this.”

After recovering evidence from Fulford’s vehicle that was found abandoned in Orlando on Colonial Drive in front of a Publix on Thursday, Sept. 28, and following tips Winter Park police detectives received, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team conducted a search of a wooded area off Apopka-Vineland Road in southwest Orange County on Friday, Sept. 29.

There, the team found Fulford’s body. Police have ruled her death a homicide.

Multiple federal and state law-enforcement agencies subsequently joined the search effort and offered a $20,000 reward for information that could lead to the capture of Scott Edward Nelson, 53, who had been identified as a person of interest in Fulford’s death.

Nelson reportedly accessed Fulford’s bank account with her card at a Wells Fargo ATM location in Winter Park the day she went missing. Nelson was finally apprehended Sunday, Oct. 1, in Jacksonville and is being held without bond on federal probation charges.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) twitter, Nelson was found by JSO's Criminal Apprehension Unit at Sunshine Inn located at 5830 New Kings Road in Jacksonville Sunday evening. Law enforcement is also working on collecting evidence from the hotel room in which he was found.

“Scott Edward Nelson was, and remains, a person of interest in this homicide investigation,” said Winter Park Police Chief Michael Deal during a press conference held Monday, Oct. 2. “Nelson is on federal probation and is currently being held without bond on federal charges. The Winter Park police department, with the assistance of our law-enforcement partners, will be putting together the pieces based on evidence that is being collected, analyzed and processed.”

Nelson reportedly used the Amtrak to reach Jacksonville and might have used funds he withdrew from Fulford’s bank account to purchase the ticket, Deal added. Winter Park police suspected Nelson was in Jacksonville early Saturday but were unsure why he went there.

Deal was unable to comment on whether or not Nelson has mental health issues but shared that Nelson has a prior criminal history involving bank robberies and did not live in Winter Park but was staying at the Orlando Union Rescue Mission.

“The city of Winter Park is devastated by the death of Jennifer Lynn Fulford,” said Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary during the conference. “Jennifer’s death has shaken our family and our community. We are a small tight-knit community here in Winter Park and we pray for strength for the Fulford family and wrap our arms around them as they grieve this tragic loss of their loved one.”

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Tim Freed contributed to reporting.