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Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Ocala landlord accused of breaking into tenant’s home skips court date, declared missing

UPDATE: Loraine Dawn Snyder was found dead this morning.

An elderly landlord who is accused of breaking into a male tenant’s home and attempting to remove his girlfriend from the property has skipped a court date in her case and has been declared missing.

Loraine Dawn Snyder, 73, was declared missing by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, March 20. According to MCSO, Snyder was last seen leaving her residence at 2891 SW 168th Avenue in Ocala at approximately 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19.

Snyder was last seen wearing black spandex pants and stands 5’2″ tall, weighs 140 pounds, and has brown eyes and blonde hair.

The sheriff’s office says Snyder made “several statements” that caused concern for her “well-being” before she left.

Snyder allegedly left her residence after missing a court date in an open case against her in Marion County.

Snyder was arrested in that case on Tuesday, March 12, after allegedly getting into an altercation with one of her tenant’s significant others.

According to the arrest report, Snyder, who is a landlord, accused the tenant’s girlfriend of trespassing at the home and demanded that the woman vacate the premises on March 12.

According to the girlfriend, Snyder knocked on the door several times before gaining entry into the home by crawling through an unlocked window.

After entering the home, Snyder allegedly grabbed the girlfriend and attempted to drag her out of the house.

The victim says she managed to separate herself from Snyder and gave multiple warnings to Synder to keep her hands to herself, according to the arrest report.

Loraine Dawn Snyder
Loraine Dawn Snyder

The victim says Snyder then proceeded to push her again and that she pushed back before the altercation ended.

During her interview, the victim provided authorities with video showing Snyder entering the home through a window and telling the victim that she would be “leaving against her choosing.”

While speaking with law enforcement, Snyder admitted to entering the tenant’s home through the unlocked window and further admitted that the altercation occurred when she tried to get the victim to leave the residence.

Snyder allegedly told authorities that she initially was “accepting” of the victim temporarily staying at the tenant’s home, but was under the impression that the victim was looking for another place to live.

According to the report, Snyder was “unaware of landlord tenant laws and did not know that a tenant of hers can have any guest of (their) choosing.” Snyder was also unaware that she was not allowed to make entry into the home any time she wished without proper notification or a legitimate reason to do so. 

Snyder was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail on March 12.

According to Marion County court records, Snyder made her first appearance in court on March 13 at 9 a.m. She bonded out of jail at 6:25 p.m. later that evening.

Court records show that she was scheduled for pretrial detention on Monday, March 18, at 9 a.m., and that she was “not present.”