Dec 17, 2007 10:58 pm US/Eastern
FBI Behavioral Unit Assists In Mall Murder Case
Anyone With Information Please Call Palm Beach Crimestoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
Mall Victims Bound, Shot: $350,000 Reward
BOCA RATON (CBS4) ―
A specialized unit of the FBI has been brought in to help track down the killer responsible for the sadistic murder of a Boca Raton woman and her 7-year-old daughter.
47-year old Nancy Bochicchio and her daughter, Joey, were found bound and shot to death inside Bochicchio's 2007 Chevrolet SUV in the parking lot of the Town Center mall on West Glades Road Thursday morning.
Since then the Boca Raton Police Department, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI have vowed to leave "no stone uncovered" in their search for the killer.
Clues and information gathered from the crime scene have been sent to the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia to assist agents in building a profile of the killer.
"It's extraordinarily rare, even in the most heinous crime, for a child to be murdered," said Dr. Harley Stock, a forensic psychologist interviewed by CBS4's Ted Scouten.
The Behavioral Science Unit has helped in a number of high profile cases in the past including the BTK killer of Wichita, Kansas and the Unabomber. In addition to building a profile of the killer, specialists with the unit will also help detectives with interview techniques and developing new leads.
On Friday, the city of Boca Raton offered a $350,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the person responsible for this heinous crime.
"It's horrible, it's absolutely horrible, in this situation both the victims were found then shot," said Sergeant Jeff Kelly of Boca Raton Police Department.
Friends of the family are devastated saying the little girl was looking forward to her birthday this weekend when she would have turned 9.
"This is a mother and a daughter that we all loved," said a friend of the family, "This is someone I waved to every morning when I'm dropping my kids off at school."
At St. Jude Catholic School, where Joey was a second-grader, the annual holiday concert Thursday night began on a somber note as about 400 students and their families paused in 60 seconds of silence for Joey and her mother.
Debbie Armstrong, the principal, said "She had a beautiful light. She will be missed but not forgotten."
"I have Christmas presents and birthday presents in my house for her. She was just a wonderful little girl. I can't believe somebody would do this to her or her mother," said neighbor Hank Matthews.
Police said Bochicchio and her daughter were Christmas shopping Wednesday night and may have been the victims of a violent robbery. Detectives have been reviewing mall surveillance tapes in hopes of catching the killer.
Detectives think this case might have some relationship to an armed robbery of a Broward County family who was kidnapped, carjacked and robbed at gunpoint in August.
Police are looking at any similarities between the cases.
"Whoever did this, they're going to make a mistake and they're gonna get caught," said a friend of the family.
Investigators released a composite drawing that investigators put out. If you have any information about the crime please call Palm Beach Crimestoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
