Winter Haven police search for man who stabbed woman to death late Friday

A 26-year-old woman was fatally stabbed during an argument with a man in northwest Winter Haven late Friday. Winter Haven police are asking the public for help and information.

In a news release issued Sunday morning, police said they received a report of a stabbing shortly before midnight Friday at a construction site behind the old Banyon Beach motel, 1630 US 17 N.

According to a witness who was accompanying the victim, the woman was arguing with an unknown man some distance away. The witness told police they saw the man hit the woman several times. The woman screamed that she had been stabbed and the man fled south.

The witness ran to find someone to call 911 and officers arrived within three minutes. They began life-saving measures until emergency medical services arrived. She was taken to a hospital where she later died.