Frank Morse Perry, West Palm Beach native, found shot to death near Orlando UCF campus

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A 21-year-old West Palm Beach native and former Palm Beach Gardens High School football player was found shot to death Tuesday morning outside an apartment complex near the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Homicide investigators with the Orange County Sheriff's Office found Frank Morse Perry in the front seat inside a silver Honda sedan in the parking lot of the Arbour Apartments off Alafaya Trail, the Orlando Sentinel said. A maintenance worker had spotted the car and the body.

Perry played offensive and defensive line for the Palm Beach Gardens High School football team for two seasons before graduating in 2008.

His coach on those Gators teams recalled him this evening as a tough-minded player who took well to coaching and constructive criticism.

"Frank was a hard-working kid," said Kevin Fleury, now head coach at Olympic Heights High School in western Boca Raton. "I always respected Frank because Frank respected me."

Perry went on to play football at the University of New Haven for two seasons before transferring to Valencia College in Orlando, according to information provided by his family.

Before attending Palm Beach Gardens High, he attended American Heritage High School in Delray Beach. He spent his earlier years at Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Day Academy in Palm Beach.

Perry did not live at the apartment complex where his body was found, Deputy Ginette Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said this evening. A resident of the complex told the Sentinel he heard noise from the parking lot around 1 or 2 a.m. Tuesday but had no other details.

Quattlebaum Funeral Home in West Palm Beach is handling arrangements.

The Orlando Sentinel contributed to this story.