The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit cleared every homicide case it was assigned to investigate in 2010 and 2011, it reports.

The number of homicides in the Sheriff’s Office’s jurisdiction — including the contract cities of Dundee, Eagle Lake, Fort Meade, Frostproof, Mulberry and Polk City — in 2011 was 12; the number of homicides in 2010 was also 12.

All the homicides investigated by the sheriff’s office in both years were either cleared by arrest or by the self-inflicted death of the suspect, it reports. There was one murder-suicide each in both 2010 and 2011. Five of the homicides in 2010 were considered domestic in nature, compared to six in 2011 that were considered domestic violence related.

Of significance in 2011 was the George Rivera case. Rivera was reported missing from Orange County by his wife on Jan. 9, 2011. On Feb. 7, 2011, deputies responded to an unidentified man’s body found in a wooded area off Sweet Pea Court in Poinciana. After quickly identifying the body as that of Rivera, homicide detectives were able to identify the suspects as Manuel Ayala, whose wife was allegedly having an affair with Rivera, and his associate, Julio Morales-Rivera. Both suspects were subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

In addition to the these homicides, detectives assigned to the Homicide Unit also responded to and investigated numerous other deaths in unincorporated Polk County in 2010 and 2011, such as unattended natural deaths, accidental deaths, suicides, etc.

“Part of the reason we are enjoying a historically low crime rate in Polk County is because we are diligent, professional, highly trained, highly skilled, highly motivated, and we solve cases. We put bad guys in jail. It’s just that simple,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.