Crimewatch

PALMETTO BAY (CBS4) ― A community meeting was held Saturday morning in Palmetto Bay as the hunt for a serial cat killer or killers continues across Miami-Dade County. The purpose of the meeting was to try and get all of the citizens to watch for the person or persons involved with the recent string of mutilated cats found in and around Palmetto and Cutler Bay.

During the Saturday morning meeting, fliers were passed out to citizens telling them to keep cats confined indoors or use cat fencing to keep the cats in your yard. Other suggestions included in the flier were: keeping your lights on or connecting your outside lights to a motion detector, report any suspicious activity to the police, and preserving any potential evidence by simply covering the animal in plastic until police arrive.

Ruby Jenkins attended the meeting after her cat named Vagrant was killed.
"At least I know people are aware and that something is being done," she told CBS4's Tiffani Helberg. "What it did was it took away my security. The day after I just sat in there with the windows closed the blinds closed."

Alicia Glatzer went through the same heartache more than a month ago when her cat was mutilated.

"I am very frustrated because were 33 cats into this and its just continues to escalate and the attacks are more gruesome then they were before," Glatzer said.

Animal advocates continued to drive the point that the only way to insure everyone's cats were safe was to keep the felines inside.

"I want this to stop with an arrest. We have to be assured that this person is taken off the streets," Palmetto Bay Mayor Eugene Flinn told CBS4's Gary Nelson on Friday.

The cat killings have become national news, with CNN, USA Today, and the Washington Post among news outlets reporting on the story. An animal services investigator patrolled Palmetto Bay Thursday, shadowed by television crews from Animal Planet.

"It's a story that we don't think is reflective of us," said Mayor Flinn, "but it is one we all have to deal with, and one we're all very concerned with."

Miami-Dade police confirmed Thursday that the killer had struck again after the bodies of three mutilated cats were found in Palmetto Bay. Five other cats were found one day earlier; but police say two of those deaths were ruled out "due to animals" and the others remains unconfirmed. In addition, Miami-Dade Police say they have leads and say a "group of cat killers" may be at work.

Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Det. Aida M. Fina-Milian told CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "They (the detectives) are looking at several people that may be involved in this. Whether they may be working together or not is probably part of the overall investigation."

CBS4 News has also learned that Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle has appointed a special prosecutor from her office to work with police. "We have some of the best veteran lawyers actually working together now and once we apprehend whoever did this, that person or those persons will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Our concern is that whoever is doing this is a budding sociopath, someone who could turn eventually into a killer of human beings."

The county's top prosecutor said she was very upset by the slaughter of so many cats, adding, "These are atrocities." She asked for the community's help and urged you to call Miami-Dade Police or Crimestoppers.

Miami-Dade police have also released new statistics concerning the disturbing feline deaths in the Southeast end of the county.

According to Det. Fina-Milian, there have been 33 reported cases but only 18 of them are confirmed to have been killed by the cat killer or killers. One case had two cats so the total of dead cats victimized by the sadistic killer stands at 19. Broken down even further, 9 cat victims were found in Cutler Bay, 8 were in Palmetto Bay and 2 were in Kendall.

The earliest case stems back to April 15th in Cutler Bay, with the most recent being Thursday, June 11th, where three cats were found slaughtered in Palmetto Bay.

The bodies were discovered early Thursday morning. One was near SW 87th Avenue and 162nd Street. The cat, a 12-year-old tabby named Chloe, belonged to Joylene Ceballos.

"I'm appalled, really," Ceballos told CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "I can't even believe what happened because I can't understand what kind of person would do this to a poor little animal. And other cats that this has happened to. And it hurts not only the animal that's being killed but the family. It's a family member that we lost."

Another cat was found on SW 160th Street between 86th and 87th Avenues. The third cat found Thursday was on SW 156th Terrace and 88th Court.

Added Rene Ceballos: "Somebody is extremely sick and I'm afraid of what they're saying in the news about what if this person gets bored with animals and goes a step higher."

Neighbors are horrified.

"I'm very concerned because I have three small children and two dogs," said Stephanie Hagan. "It's very concerning that it's happening in my yard."
Joe Perkins, another neighbor said, "Because there's some sick mind out there who's killing cats. It's unsettling to say the least."

Police say nearly all of the killings have occurred within 20 blocks of each other in Palmetto Bay and neighboring Cutler Bay. More than 60 tips have come in to Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers and Fina-Milian says they have been very helpful.

Doctor Ewald Horwath, who heads the psychiatry department at the University of Miami School of Medicine, says the behavior of the killer is concerning.

"Some people who become killers of people, homicide, and some people who go onto become serial killers start out by being cruel or sadistic to animals or killing animals," said Dr. Horwath. "So it's a very worrisome pattern."

Dr. Horwath suspects the cat killer is a male and someone looking for attention.

"It's someone who is very self involved," said Dr. Horwath, "doesn't care about the effects of their acts and is very willing to do something very destructive."

"This person is obviously escalating and getting bolder and I guess he's taunting the police," said concerned homeowner Maria Nealy. "The fear amongst the community I think is where does he go next? He's obviously getting bored with just killing cats and leaving them in citizens' yards. Now he's doing it to a police officer so once that gets boring, does he move to kids, adults, or I don't know, what's the next step?"

She is referring to one of the attack from Wednesday that happened in front of a police officer's home.

Miami-Dade Police have assigned 16 officers to a special task force in hopes of catching the cat killer. They say the best way neighbors can help is to keep their cats behind closed doors, and keep their eyes open.

The reward for information leading to the arrest of the cat killer is up to $10,000 in Miami-Dade County. If you have information call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

 

CBS4's Gary Nelson Contributed To This Report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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