Investigators say Diane German was strangled before her body was found in her backyard pool.
OCALA, Fla. — Ocala police have arrested a 50-year-old Jacksonville man in the death of Diane German, a 72-year-old restaurant owner whose body was found in her swimming pool in late December, saying new evidence led detectives to charge him with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
German, who co-owned Wolfy’s of Ocala, was found dead at her home on Northeast Sixth Street on Dec. 28, 2025, after her boyfriend, Michael Rowland, called 911 and said he had discovered her in the water that morning. In the months since, investigators said, the case shifted from an apparent drowning to a homicide inquiry after the medical examiner found evidence of strangulation. Rowland was arrested in Jacksonville this week and is expected to be returned to Marion County.
According to investigators, officers were sent to German’s home at about 6:56 a.m. on Dec. 28. Rowland told police he arrived that morning, could not find German inside the house, then spotted her in the pool and pulled her onto the deck. But detectives said his account began to break down as they reviewed surveillance video, phone records and other evidence collected during the inquiry. Police said German appeared to have been dead for several hours before Rowland made the call, and they said his timeline did not match what officers later pieced together from records and witness accounts. The medical examiner’s ruling turned the case into a homicide investigation and gave detectives a clearer direction as they rebuilt the final hours before German’s death.
Police said surveillance footage showed Rowland’s work truck outside the home at about 9:35 p.m. on Dec. 27, hours before he said he found German the next morning. A man was then seen walking away from the truck toward the house and, a short time later, returning while carrying something with a cord hanging from it, according to investigators. Detectives also said German’s phone stopped responding around that period and last pinged a cell tower at roughly 9:40 p.m. Police later searched Rowland’s work vehicle and said they found German’s broken iPhone hidden in the driver’s seat cushion, along with a laptop and charging cords. Officers have said no other people were identified at the residence during the critical time frame, and no additional suspects have been named.
The investigation also focused on what Rowland told officers about where he had been. Detectives said he claimed he had been in the Jacksonville area for a plumbing job and was not at German’s house the night before. But police said text records tied to that work indicated the job had ended hours earlier, and a neighbor reported seeing what appeared to be a plumbing truck at German’s home that evening. WFTV also reported that investigators were told by three people that German had planned to end the relationship that day because she was uncomfortable with the couple’s 20-year age difference. Police have not said in court filings reviewed by local outlets whether that account will be used to argue motive, but investigators included it as part of the broader timeline they say led to Rowland’s arrest.
German was widely known in Marion County’s restaurant community. She and her son took over Wolfy’s of Ocala in early 2024, and local coverage after her death described her as a longtime fixture in the area’s food business. Family members, employees and regular customers publicly mourned her after she was found dead, at a time when police had not yet announced a homicide finding. The later arrest brought a sharper and more troubling picture to a case that had first been discussed locally as a drowning. Wolfy’s has since been sold to new management and is expected to reopen after renovations, according to local reports, adding another layer to the community fallout from German’s death.
Rowland now faces a second-degree murder charge and a charge tied to evidence tampering. He was arrested in Jacksonville and is awaiting transfer to Marion County, where prosecutors are expected to handle the next steps in the case. As of Thursday night, authorities had not announced a court date in open reporting, and the charges remained allegations that will be tested in court.
Author note: Last updated April 10, 2026.