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A suspicious death in Sioux Falls has turned into a homicide investigation. On Monday, authorities found 50-year-old Crescencio "Chris" Conde-Vargas dead in his northeast downtown home with head injuries. Several neighbors have said Conde-Vargas, who has live in Sioux Falls since 2005, was a nice man. Brent Kinsley is surprised the man he would sometimes chat with at the local bar is now the subject of a murder investigation.
"He seemed like a really nice guy. Never caused any problems, not that I know of anyway," Kinsley said.
Kinsley did not know him too well, but said Conde-Vargas would go to Walter's Hi-Ho, a bar across the street from his duplex, for a few beers and to play the video lottery machines.
"He'd play the same machine. Pretty much kept to himself," Kinsley said.
Co-workers thought it was unusual when Conde-Vargas did not show up for work on Monday. When they went to check on him, they saw him in the window. They knocked on the door and window several times, but he did not respond. They called the police. Officers called this a suspicious death right away because it was clear there was a struggle before Conde-Vargas died.
Police are still investigating the house, but they say it appears no one tried to break in. This leads authorities to believe he knew his killer.
"For those residents or people in that area, we don't feel like there's any safety concerns. It wasn't just a random house that was selected," Sioux Falls Police Lt. Blaine Larsen said.
Authorities have not pin-pointed a weapon yet, but say they have not found any signs it was a gun or a knife. Investigators said they have a few people in mind they want to question and are currently waiting for autopsy results.
"I think there's a little more to it. Definitely there is. Like I said, we'll find out. It's always a slow train coming when you're looking for information on something like this," Kinsley said.