The girlfriend of a kidnapped man found dead in Daytona Beach on Wednesday has told investigators she heard Jim Johnson Jr. may have been shot.

The case of Johnson's suspicious disappearance and death spans three counties; his body was found in Volusia County, and he was last seen alive Friday outside a barber shop in Orange County. But Johnson also had a home in Lake County, where Clermont police searched his home in a gated community for clues.

Neighbors we spoke with Thursday at the Legends community, off U.S. Highway 27 just north of Lake Louisa, said they saw police and firefighters trying to break into Johnson's home the week before, on the same day he was last seen at Goolies Barber Shop in Orlando.

"I saw seven or eight of them out here in the car," said neighbor Paul Rionez.

At the same time, a similar investigation was happening at another home where Johnson lived on 36th Street in Orlando. According to a newly released report, Johnson's girlfriend called police, saying she was told a friend of Johnson's had been shot, Johnson had been possibly shot and kidnapped.

The investigation centered around the barber shop, on South Orange Blossom Trail, and an apartment complex in the area of Hiawassee Road and Colonial Drive, where police found his Cadillac on Monday.

Two days after that, Johnson's body was found in a wooded area of Daytona Beach, stripped down to his underwear.

Homicide investigators did not release any new details Thursday, leaving Johnson's friends to wonder about the bizarre circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

"It made me sad that it was a human being. I had no idea that it was a neighbor," said Ollie Emery, who lives near Johnson's home in Clermont.

Clermont police said Johnson's door was heavily fortified. His girlfriend admitted to breaking into the home after police had left, explaining she forgot the garage codes.

In a phone interview Thursday, Johnson's girlfriend would not say any more about how she learned of his kidnapping, or who might be responsible, explaining she had already talked to investigators.