POLK CITY, Fla. -- Bill Reiss lived in his dream house on a lake in Polk City.
That is, until January, when investigators say he and his friend Kenneth Maier were murdered inside it.
Detectives, who arrested the suspects in Alabama, said a FEMA contractor had inspected Reiss' home months earlier, then came back with friends to steal his gun collection.
Reiss' family wants FEMA to pay for the repairs to his hurricane-damaged home, but they say FEMA is refusing.
Trina Urso, Reiss’ daughter, said the agency's explanation is that people who live there are dead.
“The FEMA employee killed them,” she said with frustration in her voice.
The FEMA representative she spoke to over the phone didn't know how her father died, so she had to recount what happened.
“It's adding salt to the wound,” she said. “It's a slap in the face.”
FEMA wouldn't talk about her specific case, but said in general, "A disaster survivor's family members who were not directly impacted by the disaster are not eligible for FEMA assistance."
Urso did not appreciate that answer.
“It baffles me and the total disregard and insensitivity, it makes it so much harder,” she said.
She believes FEMA should make an exception in this case.
“There isn't always black and white,” she explained. “Sometimes there is a gray area, and this is definitely one.”
There is hope for the Ursos. U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross (R - Lakeland) hard about how much trouble they're having with FEMA. His office is working to schedule a phone call for the Ursos with FEMA to hopefully get the house fixed.
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