Police say a man in his early 20s was found stabbed to death just yards from the main entrance into Guadalupe Oak Grove Park on Wednesday afternoon - a typically quiet part of the city, which has seen a recent spike in home invasaions and break-ins. Homicide investigators took pictures and tried to look for any evidence in the city's seventh homicide of the year.
John Chovanec and his daughter, Megan, watched from their Almaden Valley home, not quite believing what they were seeing.
"It's scary. You have a 17-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son," Chovanec said. "Apparently it's a young teen or someone in their early 20s to see someone that young be involved or be murdered literally 100 yards from your house, it's really pretty scary."
Investigators are trying to find any witnesses who may have been around at the time - about 4 p.m.. They seemed to concentrate their search for clues in and around a white car found at the scene.
"I was really shocked. I thought maybe someone got hurt or something but I was not expecting a murder," Megan Chovanec said.
Neighbors on Thorntree Drive next to the park said crime has been more prevalent in their area in the past several months. Everything from home invasions to car break-ins.
"It's very unsettling. I mean, again, you are at work every day making a living and your family is here at home. The kids are at school and they come back and you're just worrying about the safety of your family," John Chovanec said.
With anxiety levels also on the rise, a neighborhood watch has started.
"When I'm home alone, I'm kinda on edge because you just never know what could happen," Megan Chovanec said.
