![]() ![]() Salt Life co-founder didn't mean to kill his girlfriend, attorney says ![]() They asked that the sheriff's office conduct a welfare check, fearful that Hutto had manipulated their daughter. Hutto had sold Salt Life, a clothing line marketed to surfers and boaters, in 2013.ĭuncan called her parents during a deputy's visit to their house, dispelling their fears that she was missing.īut she sounded strange, they insisted - drugged and vulnerable. She told her parents they were going to Daytona Beach to meet Hutto's associates, who she hoped could help the couple start a business. 26, 2020, one day after she texted to say she was traveling with Hutto. But he absolutely loved her."ĭuncan's mother and father felt differently about the relationship. They reported their daughter missing to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office on Oct. "I know it sounds odd to say that because of their age difference, and the nature of their relationship. ![]() Hutto was a married father of four who raised horses and cattle in a farm outside of Lake City, Florida. He met Duncan at a gym where the 18-year-old worked and Hutto underwent physical therapy stemming from an ATV accident years earlier, Murrell said. "A stupid, tragic, heartbreaking accident that basically ruined two families." Lora Duncan's parents called police days before her death "This was an accident," Hutto's defense attorney, Donnie Murrell Jr., said Friday. Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe sentenced him to 12 years in state prison. Hutto pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm Thursday, two-and -a-half years after fleeing from their oceanfront hotel in Riviera Beach, Florida, and leaving his wallet, ID and girlfriend behind. "Oh my God,” Hutto told investigators when confronted about Duncan’s death later at a hospital near Jacksonville, Florida. She was still in the suit when police found her face down on the bathroom floor in October 2020, a bullet from a real gun in her stomach. She was a third of his age and clad in a one-piece swimsuit from their day at the beach. She was his “Gracie,” said Hutto, then 54, and a co-founder of the Salt Life clothing company. Lora Grace Duncan aimed her own back at him. He told investigators he made his hands into the shape of a gun and aimed them at his teenage girlfriend, perched on the countertop of their hotel bathroom. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It started as a game, Michael Hutto said. The company also sells tropical-inspired fare at three Salt Life Food Shack restaurants in Florida.Watch Video: Salt Life founder arrested in connection to the death of 18-year-old has 21 freestanding stores in California, Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. In addition to an online store, the Salt Life Clothing Co. offers apparel and accessories for women, men and children. The cofounders have not been associated with the brand in any way since the purchase in 2013.” In 2013, the cofounders of Salt Life sold their entire business to the new owners. Our deepest sympathies are with the deceased’s family, friends, and loved ones. Reached for comment Friday, a spokeswoman for the company said, “Last week we learned that one of Salt Life’s original founders, Michael Hutto, pleaded guilty to charges brought against him. Hutto had not been affiliated with Salt Life Clothing Co., the water sports-oriented lifestyle brand and retailer that he helped start, for nearly a decade. After a statewide notice was issued by the sheriff’s office to be on the lookout for Duncan, representatives at the Hilton in Riviera Beach reportedly notified authorities that a guest named Hutto had missed his checkout. They did so after learning of her plans via text to travel to Daytona Beach at that time to reportedly meet associates of Hutto’s, whom she hoped could help her start a business. Her mother and father had reported her missing to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and requested a welfare check on her in late October 2020. Although his attorney reportedly said that Hutto “absolutely loved Duncan despite their age difference and the nature of their relationship,” her parents Cissy and Burt were concerned for her well-being after speaking with her. Duncan was enrolled as a student at Florida Gateway College and was reportedly working at a Lake City, Florida, gym, where Hutto was getting physical therapy after injuries from an ATV accident, when the pair first met.
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