RENATO SEABRA: PERSON OF INTEREST

Person Of Interest Sought In Midtown Hotel Death

January 7, 2011 11:45 PM

Authorities said police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious male at the InterContinental New York hotel on Jan. 7, 2011. (Photo: CBS 2)

Reporting Hazel Sanchez

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/ AP) — Police have identified a person of interest wanted for questioning in the death of a 65-year-old man found in a Midtown Manhattan hotel room.

Authorities said police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious male at the InterContinental New York hotel. When police arrived at the scene, they found the man around 7 p.m. in Room 3416, unresponsive with trauma to the head.

Person of Intrest Renato Seabra (Photo/DCPI)

EMS also responded and pronounced the victim dead on arrival. The Medical Examiner will determine the exact cause of death.

CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez reported the victim had been staying at the hotel since Dec. 29, the day the 36-story building officially opened.

The chilling discovery has left guests of the hotel frightened.

“I’m not comfortable staying here — definitely not comfortable staying here,” one woman told reporters.

Meanwhile, police identified a man in his 20s — Renato Seabra — as someone they want to speak to in connection with the victim’s death.

Authorities described Seabra as a Hispanic man, who was last seen wearing a black suit with a purple tie.

The death is the second recent slaying in a fancy hotel room.

Swimsuit designer Sylvie Cachay, 33, was found strangled and drowned in a bathtub at the trendy Soho House hotel. Her boyfriend Nicholas Brooks has pleaded not guilty in her death.

Brooks, the 24-year-old son of “You Light Up My Life” writer and Oscar winner Joseph Brooks, has been held without bail since his arrest.

Anyone with information in regards to his whereabouts is asked to call the New York City Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/01/07/person-of-interest-sought-in-upscale-midtown-hotel-death/