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Florida
May 8, 2004 21:34:39 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on May 8, 2004 21:34:39 GMT -5
Carlie Brucia The body of an 11-year-old girl whose abduction was captured by a surveillance camera was found in a wooded area near a church parking lot, and a mechanic has been charged with her murder, officials said Friday. , according to Local 6 News. Sarasota County Sheriff Bill Balkwill declined to say where Carlie Brucia's body was found, but a law enforcement source close to the investigation said it was found between 12:45 a.m. and 1 a.m. Friday outside a church a few miles from the car wash where she was taken. "Our prayers on behalf of everybody here in Sarasota County go out to the family," Balkwill said. He said Joseph P. Smith, 37, has been charged with the girl's murder. Smith is believed to be the tattooed man in a mechanic's shirt who was seen in a car wash surveillance video leading Carlie away by the arm Sunday evening, authorities said. Investigators found the body after negotiations with Smith, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Earlier, authorities had said Smith was not cooperating. "We now stand ready to complete our obligation, and assure you that he will pay the ultimate price for what he did to her," Capt. Jeff Bell said. The girl's father, Joe Brucia, somberly thanked "all the (law enforcement) people behind me and all the people that were behind them in their efforts to find my daughter." He also thanked "the community that was so involved." The Central Church of Christ was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape Friday, and about a dozen detectives walked in a line across the field in an evidence sweep. They declined to confirm whether the body was found there. But Carlie's stepfather, Steven Kansler, and some friends gathered at the edge of the church property Friday morning, kneeling in a prayer circle. Rod Myers, the church's minister, said a Bible study group met there Wednesday night but nobody saw the body because it was dark. "We are all upset about it, and we all feel helpless when things like this happen," Myers said. In the front yard of Carlie's home, another small group of supporters joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer. Friends described Carlie as a beautiful girl who loved watching actress Jennifer Lopez, going to the mall and greeting friends with warm hugs. She was heading home from a slumber party when she was abducted. Carlie's friend Natalie Thomas cried after hearing that her classmate's body was found. She remembered Carlie's smile and that she liked to go on walks. "There's nothing you can do to make anybody feel better and it's going to hurt for a long, long time," said Chuck Chambers, a private investigator who was working with the family. "I need my daughter home," Carlie's mother, Susan Schorpen, had said Thursday. "She's a very, very important part of this family and community." Members of her former Girl Scout troop took a day off from school Wednesday to pass out fliers at shopping centers, canvass neighborhoods and distribute pink ribbons adorned with Carlie's name. A reward fund of $50,000 was offered for information. Smith has been arrested at least 13 times in Florida since 1993, according to state records, and convicted of drug possession and other charges. He was arrested in 1997 in Manatee County on kidnapping and false imprisonment charges but was acquitted a year later. An aide to Smith's public defender, Adam Tebrugge, had declined to comment Thursday. Carlie was walking home from a friend's house at about 6:20 p.m. Sunday when she took a short cut behind Evie's Car Wash, which was closed for the day. Bloodhounds led deputies to the business, and car wash owner Mike Evanoff checked the security system video Monday, he said. The images of Carlie popped up almost immediately, he said. "It was cold chills right up my back," Evanoff said earlier this week. "My manager couldn't even look at it. It's an awful feeling." In the 1997 kidnapping case, a 20-year-old woman in Bradenton said a man grabbed her as she walked by and tried to pull her away, according to records released by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. "He got on top of me and told me to shut up or he would cut me," she told authorities. After a struggle, she said, she managed to run into the street, and passengers in an approaching van stopped and rescued her. Smith, found hiding behind a house by a police tracking dog, was acquitted by jurors after telling them he was trying to keep the woman from running into the street and she misunderstood. search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=&p=CARLIE+BRUCIA
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Florida
May 8, 2004 21:35:39 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on May 8, 2004 21:35:39 GMT -5
Not only speaking as a mother I also speak as a human being who thinks that every living thing is precious, I will never forget Carlie. Some say that her light has gone out, but I say that her light will ALWAYS shine brightly in my life. She had a light about her that I can't explain, and seeing the video when she was first taken, and all the worry and the wondering will never go away.
I had watched this abduction for the beginning, days of thinking about where she could be, then watching her poor mother and father speaking to the abductor pleading with him to let her just come home. I layed down for a few hours one evening, and my significant other woke me, stroked my face, and gently told me that the little girl I'd been so worried about had been found. I asked him, where and how, and he told me that she was dead. I just layed there and sobbed into my pillow.
Will I ever forget Carlie Brucia? Has her light gone out for me? No to those questions. And I'm here in this site hoping that someone will take something away from this place with them, that will save a life someday.
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Florida
Jun 8, 2004 15:59:43 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jun 8, 2004 15:59:43 GMT -5
Deland, FL, Jun. 8 (UPI) -- Sheriff's deputies at Deland, Fla., have found the body of a 10-year-old boy missing for three years but the search continues for his grandmother.
The primary suspect in the case is Douglas McClymont, a Deland man who killed himself last month, the Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday.
McClymont was being pursued in three other unrelated killings when he committed suicide, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said.
Joshua Bryant's body was found Friday in a wooded area at Cassadega, Fla., and positively identified early Tuesday, Johnson said.
Johnson said Lillian Martin, Joshua's grandmother, has not been found, but deputies are searching the area where the boy's body was found.
McClymont apparently did some electrical work at the home where Martin and the boy lived before they disappeared in May 2001.
He didn't become a suspect until he allegedly went on a rampage that left two dead in North Carolina and one in Florida.
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Florida
Jun 22, 2004 2:18:29 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jun 22, 2004 2:18:29 GMT -5
The body of a 34-year-old Davie man was found in the trunk of a car in a long-term parking lot at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when a maintenance worker saw blood dripping from the vehicle.
Michael Louis Foster's death wasn't classified as a homicide, though there were "obvious signs of trauma," said Broward County Sheriff's Office spokesman Hugh Graf.
Broward County Aviation Department employee Phil Perna, 35, saw what he thought was transmission fluid dripping from the back of the black 2001 Kia Optima early Monday morning. When he got closer, he realized it was blood and called his supervisors, who then contacted authorities.
Foster ate dinner with family members on Sunday night, then left the house at about 10 p.m., without saying where he was going, said relative Carol Woon.
She described Foster, who she said worked as a computer programmer for Norwegian Cruise Lines, as a religious man who attended the Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale.
"He lived by the Bible," Woon said.
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Florida
Jul 29, 2004 16:52:42 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jul 29, 2004 16:52:42 GMT -5
The worst fears of Vincenzo Reali's family have now been realized. Reali disappeared more than a month ago and his disappearance has been agonizing for relatives.
Thursday, Apopka police had to pass along the news that a body found earlier this week is that of Reali's.
Reali, who lived with his parents in Heathrow, vanished on June 24. The last place he was seen was at his family's industrial business in Sanford.
Reali's brother was quickly convinced something was wrong when Reali didn't return his calls. There was no trace of Reali until police found his SUV at a business plaza near Colonial Drive and Dillard Street in Winter Garden.
Detectives suspected foul play, but there were no leads.
Then, this past Monday, a man cutting through the woods to get to his house in Apopka stumbled upon a badly decomposed body. It was covered by a sheet of tin, similar to what is used on roofs.
Thursday morning, the medical examiner released the finding that the man found was Reali. Investigators had guarded the scene where the body was discovered, but the work there is now complete.
But that doesn't mean the investigation is over. There are still no suspects in this case, and investigators don't yet know how Reali died.
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Florida
Jul 30, 2004 9:48:59 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jul 30, 2004 9:48:59 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Remains found in missing Lauderhill woman’s car[/glow] Police found remains Thursday in the trunk of a car owned by a missing Lauderhill woman, after neighbors complained of a foul odor coming from a parked vehicle.
But authorities would not say if the woman had been found, or even if the remains were those of a person.
Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Hugh Graf did confirm that the car, found in the parking lot of the gated Chaves Lakes apartment complex in Hallandale Beach, belonged to Sueheidy Orta. The 20-year-old woman was last seen driving the car after visiting a friend in Hollywood on July 18.
Earlier this week, the Broward Sheriff's Office announced that foul play was suspected in Orta's disappearance.
On Thursday, Hallandale Beach police and sheriff's deputies cordoned off the area around the 1996 Mitsubishi Galant, while investigators showed neighbors pictures of the missing woman and asked about the car.
"I never noticed anything strange," said Ingrid Louis, 23. She said she recently saw flies hovering around the trunk, but "the car has been there for two weeks. It's been by the Dumpster, so no one thought it was a dead body."
She said investigators showed her a picture of Orta and told her a body had been found in the trunk. Detectives asked neighbors if they had seen Orta before.
Earlier this week, detectives were looking for 19-year old Jonathan Alcantara of Wellington, who they said was the last person to speak with Orta.
Orta's mother reported her missing on July 21. She said Orta had gone to visit her boyfriend at the Glades Correctional Institution in Belle Glade, dropped off an acquaintance in Pompano Beach and phoned her boyfriend's mother. Then, detectives said Orta went to the friend's house in Hollywood, and soon after leaving, she received a phone call from Alcantara.
Sheriff's detectives said Alcantara left a weekend voicemail message with his Deerfield Beach employer saying that he had a family emergency and that he had to leave the country. Graf said Alcantara, who lived in Pompano Beach and Coral Springs, was born in Guatemala.
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Florida
Aug 4, 2004 18:47:03 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Aug 4, 2004 18:47:03 GMT -5
A 19-year-old is now charged in the murder of a young woman who was missing for several days before her body was found in the trunk of her car. Broward Sheriff's Office detectives and the U. S. Marshals Service arrested Steven Alcantara of Dania Beach in Roswell, Ga., Sunday morning. Alcantara reportedly confessed to the killing of 20-year old Sueheidy Orta. Following his arrest, Alcantara told detectives he had strangled Orta July 18 during "rough sex." An exhaustive search for Orta ended July 29 when her badly decomposed body was found in the trunk of her car, abandoned at a Hallandale Beach apartment complex. According to detectives, Alcantara and Orta had been acquaintances for about three years. After leaving her friend's Hollywood home, Orta drove to Alcantara's apartment. Later that night, Alcantara strangled her during sex, he told police. That same night or early the next morning, detectives said that Alcantara wrapped Orta's body in a large, plastic garbage bag and put her in the trunk of her car. He then drove the car to the Chaves Lake apartments in Hallandale Beach and ditched the car, police said. According to investigators, the next morning, July 19, Alcantara got a ride from a friend who lives in the Chaves Lake apartments. The two drove to a pawnshop where they sold some of Sueheidy's jewelry for $75, and then the friend drove Alcantara to his Dania Beach apartment. Four days later, as the search for Orta continued, Alcantara had a friend pawn more of Orta's jewelry for $25. By July 26, BSO detectives had developed information that led them to question Alcantara. He reportedly told detectives that he had not seen nor talked to Orta in months. When Orta's body was discovered on July 29, Alcantara was already on the run, having hitchhiked to a friend's home in Georgia. Working with the U. S. Marshals Service, BSO detectives said they learned where Alcantara was hiding. At about 8 a.m. on Aug. 1, investigators moved in and arrested Alcantara. He was taken into custody without incident at an apartment at 1106 Summit Drive in Roswell, Ga. www.local10.com/news/3607319/detail.html
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Florida
Aug 27, 2004 22:31:20 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Aug 27, 2004 22:31:20 GMT -5
Feb. 11, 2002 DNA tests on female skeletal bones at a University of Florida laboratory have ended a Central Florida family’s traumatic 19-year search to find a loved one and launched them on a new mission to apprehend her killer. Ever since 14-year-old Vickey Wills mysteriously disappeared from a school bus stop in East Orlando the morning of April 25, 1983, her relatives have driven thousands of miles to find her, even starting a missing children’s agency in the process. The discovery of skeletal remains about 10 miles from the bus stop six months after Vickey’s disappearance never satisfied them. A forensic expert at the time said the chances the remains were Vickey’s were 90 percent, based on dental records. “We could not give up because we still had that 10 percent hope she was still alive,” said Judy Wills, Vickey’s mother. The family wanted DNA testing done when it became available in the ‘90s but could not afford the $8,000 to $10,000 fee at a private lab. About six months ago, the family turned to UF for help. Tony Falsetti, director of UF’s C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory, which examined the skeletal remains shortly after they were found, asked UF scientist Ginger Clark if she would do DNA tests. Clark normally sequences DNA on wildlife, primarily to nab deer poachers, as scientific research manager at Biotechnologies for Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Sciences Genetic Analysis Laboratory, part of UF’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research. Although the technique is similar, she had never performed the test on a human. Because the case involved a child, though, Clark said she felt a special obligation. “When it’s your child, you want to be absolutely positive,” said Clark, the mother of two grown children. “This family had been through so much, never knowing what happened to the girl. They didn’t even have a cause of death.”<br> With Vickey’s two sisters, her mother and her two aunts still living, Clark could do a test involving mitachondrial DNA, present in the egg and therefore maternally passed along. She compared DNA from the remains’ leg bone tissue with DNA from hair samples provided by Vickey’s female family members. The test showed them to be immediate blood relatives. The family hopes Vickey’s case will trigger the memory of someone who saw something at the bus stop that morning, said Joan Thompson, Vickey’s aunt and executive director of Missing Children Center in Winter Springs, Fla. Her classmates now have children of their own, and since so much time has passed they might be willing to come forward if they know anything, she said. Vickey was always conscientious about safety and would never have gotten into a car with a stranger, yet there was no sign of a struggle at the bus stop, Thompson said. Her books, purse, clothing and shoes were never found. But she might have accepted a ride from someone she knew, Thompson believes. Vickey did not want to go to school that morning, Thompson said. Her sister was home sick and relatives were visiting from Ohio. Still, she would not have run away, she said. Her father just had gotten out of the hospital the week before from open-heart surgery. “Vickey was daddy’s little girl, and she always made sure he got his medication,” she said. The next morning, Vickey’s relatives stopped cars at the bus stop asking drivers if they had seen Vickey the day before. They received eyewitness reports of her sitting alone reading a book up until 7:25 a.m., Thompson said, and the bus arrived at 7:30 a.m. With Vickey’s picture in hand, her aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers and parents searched the state, once thinking they found her in 1988 in Daytona Beach, Fla., Thompson said. The girl looked so much like Vickey that her sister Chris chased her and sat on top of her, but it turned out to be a 14-year-old Washington runaway, she said. Cmdr. Angelo Nieves, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, said the case has never been closed since it involves an unsolved death investigation. “It was inactive, but the sheriff’s office will always follow up on any case that is unsolved,” he said. The year after Vickey disappeared, her relatives started Missing Children Center, a service that provides emotional support to families of missing children throughout the United States and Canada, in addition to making about 4,000 posters a month, distributing them in restaurants, day-care centers and other places where the child might be seen, she said. “The DNA testing was very important to us because now instead of continuing to look for Vickey, we can start trying to find out what happened to her and who killed her,” Wills said. www.missingchildrencenterinc.org/About%20the%20Center.htm
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Florida
Aug 31, 2004 12:46:44 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Aug 31, 2004 12:46:44 GMT -5
Investigators identified the skeletal remains found in a remote area in Lehigh Acres as a missing Cape Coral woman, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office announced today.
Officials used dental records to confirm the bones belonged to Abdaris Mendez Hernandez, 27, of 1346 S.E. 2nd Ave., who was last seen on April 25.
Deputies were notified of the discovery shortly after 4 p.m. on Aug. 22.
Cpl. Larry King said he would not say when the remains were found, where or by who. Investigators would not say how she died but said her death was ruled a homicide.
“We are being vague because we need to gather tips and find out what information is reliable and what is not,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 477-1000.
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Florida
Sept 17, 2004 14:05:29 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Sept 17, 2004 14:05:29 GMT -5
A body found Thursday morning at Carl E. Johnson/Lovers Key State Park has been identified as that of a Cape Coral man reported missing by his girlfriend three hours earlier.
An auxiliary Lee County Sheriff’s deputy and his wife were shelling about one-half mile south of Big Carlos Pass when they found the man’s body along the shoreline near a clump of downed trees, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Larry King said. The man was 37 years old.
His girlfriend reported the man missing at 6:06 a.m., King said, after receiving a message on her voicemail from him saying that, by the time she listened to his message, "it would be too late."
"There were no outward signs of trauma or foul play," King said.
An autopsy is scheduled for today. Deputies discovered an abandoned vehicle, located between New Pass and Lovers Key in mangroves along the roadway, but King said he was uncertain whether the car belonged to the man.
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Florida
Sept 25, 2004 11:33:45 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Sept 25, 2004 11:33:45 GMT -5
Deputies found Friday what they think are the remains of 16-year-old Rachael Ann Martina, a Polk County girl missing since 1999.
The body was unearthed about noon, from the back yard of the Lake Luther Road home of murder suspect Edward Romeo. The Medical Examiner's Office will seek to positively identify the skeletal remains.
But sheriff's Major W.J. Martin said he thinks investigators have found Martina. He said she was likely strangled.
Deputies had been digging in the yard for three days.
Friday's discovery came hours after Romeo, 26, directed deputies to the spot in the back yard where the body was buried, the Sheriff's Office reported.
Romeo is the prime suspect in Martina's death, Martin said.
However, he has not yet been charged.
Romeo already faces second degree murder charges in the fatal Aug. 22 shooting of his brother, Robert Romeo, 21, inside the Lake Luther Road house. It was Romeo's arrest that made the break in Martina's case, which was long considered a cold missing persons case.
Martin said following Romeo's arrest Aug. 22, witnesses came forward to say Martina had been killed inside the Lake Luther Road home and that other people were in the house when it happened.
Martin said evidence shows that Robert Romeo and Martina both were murdered in the Romeos' kitchen.
The tips led investigators to begin sifting through the Romeos' large back yard Tuesday.
Martina disappeared in March 1999 after she left a Department of Children & Families office following a supervised visit with her father.
The teen's life was troubled long before she vanished. She had little involvement with her parents, who eventually abandoned her in Polk County. After that, she was arrested and served time at the Polk County Boot Camp.
Before Martina's parents left her, they lived in the Lake Luther area, where Martina met the Romeo family.
Martin said Romeo and Martina probably were friends, or at least acquaintances.
Sheriff officials think she went to the Lake Luther house some time after she left the Department of Children and Families office.
"At some point she took up refuge here," Martin said, standing outside the home.
Martin said shortly after the remains were found the Sheriff's Office contacted Martina's mother, who now lives in Colorado, and her father, who now lives in Lakeland.
It was a somber end to a somber week at the house.
Neighbors emerged from their houses Friday, looking at the work crew dig through the Romeos' back yard.
Janette Thrower sadly glanced across the street from her yard as investigators combed her neighbor's back yard.
"We never had a problem with them," Thrower said.
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Florida
Oct 25, 2004 18:44:53 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Oct 25, 2004 18:44:53 GMT -5
Team Amber Alert News(COLLIER COUNTY) -- Anna Giammona, who has been missing since Monday, has been found safe. According to Anna’s father Chuck Giammona she returned home on her own will.
Reportedly Anna told her family she lost the baby a month ago and has been depressed ever since. She didn’t know if her family would understand.
She has been living in her car, moving from location to location so no one could find her.
Her family is now trying to get her some help.
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Florida
Nov 3, 2004 17:55:36 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Nov 3, 2004 17:55:36 GMT -5
Jacksonville Homicide detectives found the body of a white male Wednesday afternoon -- possibly the University of Florida student who's been missing since Sunday.
Sophomore David Ferguson was last seen at The Landing on Saturday -- the night before the Georgia-Florida game.
Investigators said Ferguson and his friends came up from Gainesville for the game, but somehow got separated while partying downtown. According to friends, Ferguson was intoxicated when they last saw him.
The body was discovered at about 2 p.m., in a narrow alley between an abandoned building and the Forsyth Street parking garage where Ferguson's car was parked.
Detectives were still investigating the scene Wednesday, and said the victim might not be identified until Thursday.
Police said the body was in "close proximity" to Ferguson's car.
When asked why the body wasn't discovered sooner, police said it's not clear at this point. However, police said the area where the body was located couldn't be seen from the street.
Ferguson's parents said they are heartbroken at the loss of their son, whom they called "a wonderful, wonderful person."
They last spoke to him Wednesday, when he called to thank them for the Halloween package they'd sent.
David Ferguson Sr. wanted to thank the people of Jacksonville who helped the family in the search.
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Post by LadyBlue on Dec 2, 2004 2:07:48 GMT -5
The search has ended for a missing 15-year-old girl from Glades County, just southwest of Lake Okeechobee.
Investigators with the Glades County Sheriff's Office say authorities found the girl with Jeffrey Hunt, 43, Tuesday night in Homestead, Florida.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a Missing Child alert for the teenager Monday night.
Hunt has been arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a minor and with interfering with child custody.
He is being held in jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
First Coast News is not using the name and picture of the girl now because of the nature of the case.
She will be turned over to the custody of her parents once investigators finish interviewing her.
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Florida
Dec 7, 2004 19:38:56 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Dec 7, 2004 19:38:56 GMT -5
Collier County Sheriff's officials have identified the body discovered in a burning vehicle around 8 p.m., Nov. 5, at Everglades Blvd. and 70th Ave. SE.
According to sheriff's reports, the victim was 39-year-old Lisa Murphy of 971 San Marcos Blvd.
After extinguishing the fire, emergency personnel discovered Murphy's body inside the passenger compartment. The body was burned beyond recognition.
Reports state that although investigators had been able to obtain registrant information on the vehicle and had a suspicion who the victim was, a final determination could not be made until forensic analysis were conducted.
A DNA analysis provided conclusive evidence that the body was Murphy. The death is still under investigation; however, officials say there has been no evidence to indicate foul play was a factor in Murphy's death.
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Florida
Jan 15, 2005 0:11:50 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jan 15, 2005 0:11:50 GMT -5
A body found in Ocala National Forest was identified as a Belleview resident missing for more than two years.
Ernest Fairless was reported missing in 2002 after he wandered away from a friend's home in Paisley under the effect of drugs.
Lake County authorities say a woman found the body December 2 while walking her pet in a densely wooded area in the forest. The body was found a long way from where he was last seen.
No cause of death has been determined.
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Florida
Jan 18, 2005 23:35:33 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jan 18, 2005 23:35:33 GMT -5
The body found in the St. Johns River in Green Cove Springs has been identified as 21-year old Mary Francis Pickett, also known as Mary Grace Melton.
The body was found in the river on January 12 of this year. Mary Pickett, (Mary Melton), was last seen on January 2, 2005 at approximately 2:15 p.m. in the 4700 block of Phillips Highway in Jacksonville.
If you have any information please contact the Clay County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit at (904) 264-6512 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
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Florida
Feb 11, 2005 8:42:55 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Feb 11, 2005 8:42:55 GMT -5
A kidnapping in St. Petersburg has come to a tragic end in Jacksonville according to the St. Petersburg Police Department. Authorities in St. Petersburg say a body found in a home in San Marco is of a missing 14-year-old boy. Police in St. Petersburg are tentatively identifying the boy as Joshua Corriveau. His mother, Donna, reported him missing late last year. She has been notified of the news. Authorities initially said Corriveau ran away, believing he left voluntarily with William Popjes. It wasn't until December that investigators changed the case to include false imprisonment and interference with custody after Donna Corriveau was beaten, gagged and tied up by Popjes. Popjes, 37, is one of two men in police custody in Jacksonville according to St. Petersburg police. Popjes is wanted on several outstanding warrants in several states including Michigan, where the U.S. Secret Service issued a federal indictment against him for bank fraud. The search for the missing teen unraveled in San Marco when the U.S. Secret Service went to a rental home off Riverwood Lane in San Marco. Agents went to knock on the door of the home. The men took off. Agents captured the men after a short chase. One of the suspects hinted to investigators of something suspicious in the home. Agents went inside, but could not determine what was inside and called the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit to the scene. After several hours at the scene, the medical examiner removed a bag from the home. Investigators would not say what is in the bag, and would not comment on whether a body had been found in the home. www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=32343
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Florida
Feb 28, 2005 15:53:37 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Feb 28, 2005 15:53:37 GMT -5
In the second fatal canal incident discovered over the weekend, a missing 21-year-old Margate man was found in his car at the bottom of a Tamarac canal Sunday.
Daniel Peters had been reported missing to Margate Police on Saturday, when he failed to come home after he phoned his family at 4 a.m. that day to say he was on his way, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. Relatives and friends discovered Peters' car in the 6800 block of Southgate Boulevard after driving around Sunday, trying to retrace his route.
Deputies and the sheriff's dive team found Peters' 2003 Honda Civic in the canal, the Sheriff's Office said. Peters' body was removed from the car and transported to the Broward Medical Examiner's Office, where an autopsy will be performed. Detectives presume Peters drowned, the Sheriff's Office said. They found no signs of foul play.
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Florida
Apr 18, 2005 11:18:12 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Apr 18, 2005 11:18:12 GMT -5
In Florida, authorities now said a registered sex offender has been charged with the death of a 13-year-old girl who disappeared last week. Police said 36-year-old David Onstott has confessed to choking Sarah Lunde to death in her house. He now faces first degree murder charges. Authorities said Onstott knew Lunde's mother, and had recently ended a relationship with her. Sarah's body was found yesterday in an abandoned fish pond about a half mile from her home. Several people gathered to remember her at an informal memorial Sunday morning at the family's church. www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=127177&SecID=33
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Florida
Jul 17, 2005 9:13:50 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Jul 17, 2005 9:13:50 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Tiffany Marie Burgess[/glow] Burgess was found safe in 2005. She had been missing May 1, 2001 from Inverness, Florida.
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Florida
Apr 20, 2006 11:47:29 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Apr 20, 2006 11:47:29 GMT -5
The disappearance of Heather Joan Plunkett left her family hungry for answers, detectives desperate for clues, sent a former boyfriend into exile, and turned a jailhouse informant into what might have been a valuable police asset. A missing persons case that involved a slew of possibilities and, for three years, not nearly enough evidence, ended last month on the grounds of a former phosphate mine east of Bartow, in Polk County. A worker spraying herbicide on the grounds of the old mine recently found the remains of Plunkett, 29, authorities said Friday. The bones were found inside a worn tarp, wrapped in a blanket, still draped in a Tommy Hilfiger top and Mossimo pants. Authorities believe Plunkett, of Lantana, was shot to death. "You know, but you don't know, and you're waiting anytime to hear the worst news," said Plunkett's grandmother, Joan Fava, who raised Plunkett and last heard from her the day she disappeared. "I want to know who killed her. I think her son should know what happened to his mommy." That's the question Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office detectives are trying to answer. They will use the clothing, tarp, blanket, sneakers and other items found with Plunkett's remains to try to find forensic evidence that points them to her killer. Sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said they have a person of interest in the case, but won't say who. They are in discussions about the case with the state attorney's office. Greg H. Morris, Plunkett's ex-boyfriend, knew that he was a person of interest in Plunkett's killing. During a phone interview Friday, Morris said mutual friends of he and Plunkett told investigators he was involved in her killing and was the last person to see her alive. He said detectives have confronted him with information from those friends, who were in jail at the time. Morris, 38, denies playing any role in Plunkett's death. "I had nothing to do with it," Morris said. "She went to jail for a while, and I didn't want to see her again. I definitely wasn't the last person to see her alive." Shortly before her murder, Plunkett was released from jail on violation of probation charges. Morris said he never saw her after she was jailed, and that she later started dating someone else. "She made a lot of enemies doing a lot of real bad things, but I have absolutely no idea what happened to her." Morris would not say where he now lives, but feels the shadow of suspicion has followed him there from South Florida. "This is destroying my life as it is. It's slowly getting back around town again," he said. Plunkett was last seen in February 2003 near Belvedere Road and Military Trail. She was a pretty, brown-haired girl from New Jersey who moved to Florida when she was 17. She eventually married and had a son named Matthew, who is now 8. She later divorced. Though for years she had been involved in drinking, drug binges and all-night parties, family and associates say she was on the verge of turning her life around. Detectives had few leads until early 2004, when they received information that she might have been a homicide victim, Miller said. That same year, an acquaintance of Plunkett, Angie Morgan, told The Palm Beach Post during a jailhouse interview that she was in a house on Belvedere Road when Plunkett was killed. She said Morris had shot her. Morgan was later convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from an incident that left a man dead and her teenage son and a friend charged with first-degree murder. She was sentenced to 15 years on the weapons charge. Plunkett, whose criminal history includes arrests for vehicle theft, disorderly intoxication, shoplifting and domestic violence, ran with an unsavory bunch, her grandmother said. But once out of jail, Fava said, she committed to getting off drugs so she could be there for her son. "She called me the day she disappeared and said she was going to a rehabilitation facility," said Fava. "She said, 'Grandma, I don't want you to worry about me. I'm gonna do good.' " www.tampabaylive.com/stories/2006/03/060331remains.shtml
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Florida
Dec 11, 2007 13:17:16 GMT -5
Post by lisa murphy on Dec 11, 2007 13:17:16 GMT -5
Not only speaking as a mother I also speak as a human being who thinks that every living thing is precious, I will never forget Carlie. Some say that her light has gone out, but I say that her light will ALWAYS shine brightly in my life. She had a light about her that I can't explain, and seeing the video when she was first taken, and all the worry and the wondering will never go away. I had watched this abduction for the beginning, days of thinking about where she could be, then watching her poor mother and father speaking to the abductor pleading with him to let her just come home. I layed down for a few hours one evening, and my significant other woke me, stroked my face, and gently told me that the little girl I'd been so worried about had been found. I asked him, where and how, and he told me that she was dead. I just layed there and sobbed into my pillow. Will I ever forget Carlie Brucia? Has her light gone out for me? No to those questions. And I'm here in this site hoping that someone will take something away from this place with them, that will save a life someday.
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Florida
Dec 12, 2007 18:21:44 GMT -5
Post by LadyBlue on Dec 12, 2007 18:21:44 GMT -5
I hear you, I did the same thing, she was a precious beautiful little girl almost a woman, never got to experience what she should have and I just pray that her family are able to somehow find some piece of mind from all this.
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