{"id":365080,"date":"2026-08-07T07:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/365080\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T07:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:16:14","slug":"he-was-the-macgyver-of-the-cul-de-sac-neighbors-mourn-orlando-man-allegedly-killed-by-stepson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/365080\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He was the MacGyver of the cul-de-sac’: Neighbors mourn Orlando man allegedly killed by stepson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Orlando \"Orlando <\/p>\n

The family of 71-year-old Jorge Vazquez-Escutia<\/a> is shattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His daughter told FOX 35 News off-camera that she feels like she has lost two loved ones now that her stepbrother is accused of murdering her father<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“He was the MacGyver of the cul-de-sac”<\/p>\n

\u2014 Patrick Washington, lived near Jorge Vazquez-Escutia <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

A quiet Orlando cul-de-sac has been left rattled after the gruesome murder of a beloved neighbor.<\/p>\n

“He was the MacGyver of the cul-de-sac and to hear he passed, and the way he passed, that was very touching,” said neighbor Patrick Washington.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Jorge Vazquez-Escutia [Credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Office] <\/p>\n

“Uncle George, as we would call him… was a real good dude, didn\u2019t bother anybody,” Washington said. “To know someone well over 15 years that only did good to you… it really touches home, it touches me.”<\/p>\n

Another neighbor, Neil Doherty, echoed the shock of the community. “I’m really surprised\u2026 wow\u2026 I’ve never heard of anything happening like that around here.”<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Vazquez-Escutia was murdered, dismembered, and that his remains were stuffed in suitcases abandoned along the side of the road.<\/p>\n

His stepson, 44-year-old Jose Proano, has been arrested under suspicion of first-degree murder.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Office <\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

According to the arrest affidavit, surveillance video caught Proano hopping the fence at his mom and stepdad’s home, dragging suitcases and tarps into the backyard, and placing human remains in at least one suitcase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officials said the three suitcases were later found abandoned along White Road. His mother’s name was on the luggage tags on some of the beds, the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Detectives said cell phone records also placed Proano at the scene. Family friends also told deputies that Proano had confessed to them that he had killed his stepdad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officials said Proano traveled from Northport to Orlando via bus, and that he had repeatedly called 911 regarding a welfare check on his mom. The arrest report states that Proano’s mom suffered from dementia and that he blamed his stepdad for apparently limiting his contact with her.<\/p>\n

Family told FOX 35 \u00a0that Proano suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. They have spent years helping him with treatment.<\/p>\n

Held without bond <\/p>\n

A judge ordered Proano to be held without bond on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“If you are released on bond, no contacting the witnesses, etc.,” the judge stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: FOX 35’s Laryssa Leone talked with Jorge Vazquez-Escutia’s daughter and neighbors who knew him. Additional information is from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the arrest report, and court records.<\/p>\n

Orange County News<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of 71-year-old Jorge Vazquez-Escutia is shattered.\u00a0 His daughter told FOX 35 News off-camera that she feels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[630,47,115,1335,139,141,140,628],"class_list":["post-365080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}