Police say the caller’s account of finding Diane German in her pool fell apart after records placed him there the night before.
OCALA, Fla. — The 911 call came early Dec. 28 from a man who said he had found his girlfriend in her swimming pool. Ocala police now say he killed her.
Michael Rowland, 50, was arrested April 6 in Jacksonville and charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Diane German, 72. Police say German was found dead in the pool at her home on Northeast Sixth Street, but later evidence showed she had been strangled before she entered the water.
The official timeline begins before officers reached the home. Police said Rowland called around 7 a.m. to report that German was unresponsive in the pool. Other local reporting placed the response at 6:56 a.m. at 4549 NE Sixth St. Officers found German dead at the scene. Rowland told investigators he had discovered her floating in the water that morning and pulled her out before police arrived. Detectives found water through parts of the home, a fact they later said was consistent with the account that he had gone into the pool and moved through the house. That did not end the investigation.
Police then began checking the hours before the call. German’s phone became a marker in the timeline because investigators said all activity on it stopped around 9:30 p.m. Dec. 27. After that, German reportedly stopped replying to messages. Surveillance footage, according to investigators, showed Rowland arriving at the house around that same period. Police said additional records showed he was at German’s home the night before she was found. That placed him at the house during the hours detectives were trying to explain, not only at the scene when he reported finding her in the morning.
The account Rowland gave about German’s phone also drew scrutiny. Police said a wet, empty phone case was found in the garage, while German’s phone was found inside Rowland’s van. Rowland allegedly told officers the phone had been submerged in the pool. Detectives said it did not show signs of water damage. Ocala-News reported that the arrest report described the phone as broken and folded and said it had been stashed in the driver’s seat cushion with a laptop and charging cords. Those details shifted attention from the pool to the van, where police said evidence connected to German had been concealed.
Investigators also examined Rowland’s own phone. Police said they found an internet search asking how to reset a video surveillance system. The detail mattered because the case already included surveillance footage placing Rowland at German’s house before the 911 call. Authorities have not publicly said whether any camera system at the home or nearby was reset. They also have not released all video reviewed by detectives. The search, however, was part of the public reporting on the case and appeared in the same body of evidence as the phone records, camera footage and alleged movement of German’s belongings.
The medical examiner’s ruling gave detectives a cause of death that did not match an accidental drowning. Officials said German’s death was ruled a homicide and that the body showed evidence of strangulation. Police said she had been strangled before she was put in the water. That finding changed the role of the pool in the case. It was no longer only the place where German was found. Investigators said it became part of an alleged attempt to make a homicide look like a drowning. The exact time of death has not been publicly released in the available reports.
Police also looked at Rowland’s movements and statements beyond the house. Reports said he told investigators he had returned from a plumbing job in Jacksonville before finding German. Detectives said evidence showed no way he could have driven to and from Jacksonville between the times he appeared on surveillance footage. Police have not released a full travel timeline in public statements. They have said his statements were inconsistent and that records did not support the version he gave. That dispute over time, distance and location is likely to be central as the case moves through court.
The relationship between Rowland and German added another layer to the investigation. Friends and family told police the two had been arguing and were breaking up, according to the arrest report. Police said Rowland denied that. Ocala-News reported that Rowland told detectives German had been allowed to see other men and that he had seen a message from another man on her phone. Authorities have not said whether jealousy, a breakup or another dispute will be presented as a motive. The case publicly rests on alleged evidence, not a confession.
German’s death also carried a local impact because of her work in Ocala’s restaurant community. She owned Wolfy’s of Ocala on East Silver Springs Boulevard and had a long career in restaurants and catering. Local reports said she had taken over Wolfy’s with her son, Anthony Viktora. After her death, relatives, employees and friends expressed shock. German had two adult children and a grandchild. The later arrest changed the public understanding of the December death from a sudden pool tragedy to a homicide accusation involving the man who first called police.
Ocala police said no other individuals were identified at the residence during the critical timeframe and no additional suspects had been named. Rowland was arrested in Jacksonville and is expected to be returned to Marion County. He faces second-degree murder and tampering with evidence charges. Court records cited in early reports did not list a next court date. The police department said the investigation would continue and that updates would be released when available.
“We extend our deepest condolences to Diane German’s family, and we thank Detective Grosso and the staff involved for their dedicated, thorough work on this investigation,” the Ocala Police Department stated after the arrest. The statement put the case in the hands of detectives, prosecutors and the court system after months of review.
For now, Rowland remains the only person publicly charged in German’s death. The next major milestone is expected in Marion County, where prosecutors will bring the case into court through formal hearings.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.