MIAMI – After the shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport, federal authorities descended to the Golden Gate Estates, a Collier County community, on Friday. They were there to question the accused killer's relatives.
Heber and Evelyn Ruiz told neighbors they had not seen or talked to Esteban Santiago in at least four years, according to neighbors who spoke to The Naples Daily News.
Property records show Ruiz purchased the home in 2014.
After Santiago was accused of killing five and wounding eight at the airport's Terminal 2 baggage claim area, authorities moved to question relatives and friends in New York, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Florida.
Santiago is the youngest of five siblings, according to relatives who talked to a Telemundo reporter in New York. One of Santiago's brothers was in Naples on vacation on Friday. Two others live in Florida, his aunt in New Jersey told Telemundo.
Santiago was born in New Jersey and raised in Puerto Rico, where he joined the National Guard in 2007. After serving in Iraq as a combat engineer, he lived in Naples. He later joined the Alaska Army National Guard.
Santiago lived in Anchorage, Alaska, where he was involved in a domestic violence incident, according to the Anchorage Police Department. FBI agents didn't say why Santiago targeted Fort Lauderdale, but they said there was enough evidence for prosecutors to file federal charges. He was set to appear in Broward federal court on Monday.
