Feb 18, 2008 10:29 pm US/Eastern
Malls Pitch In To Find Boca Killer
Palm Beach Crimestoppers: 1-800-458-TIPS / Boca Police: 561-338-1352
$350,000 Reward Offered For Info That Leads To The Killer
BOCA RATON (CBS4) ―
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The first video shows the mother and daughter walking through the mall.
CBS
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The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office wants to know where two costume jewelry rings, found on the right pinky finger of murder victim Randi Gorenberg, came from.
CBS
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New Sketch Of Boca Mall Murder Suspect
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Joey Bochicchio-Hauser, 8, Found Dead With Her Mother In A Boca Raton Mall Lot
CBS
Some of South Florida's major malls are passing out a flyer in hopes that the suspect who killed a mother and daughter found at the Boca Town Center mall is caught.
Two new videos were released just one day after the "America's Most Wanted" Web site posted a new composite sketch of the suspect believed to have shot and killed Nancy Bochicchio and her daughter Joey last December. They also released new information about the murder of Randi Gorenberg. The crimes, along with others, are possibly the result of a serial killer, police have said.
Angie Tharp said she is concerned about shopping at the mall roughly two months after the murder of the Bochicchio's.
"And it's scary you know, me going to the mall by myself you know it makes me nervous," said Angie Tharp. "People are crazier I don't know, is just sad that is so close to where we all live."
The person who killed the Boca Raton mother and her 7-year old daughter may be the work of a serial killer. That's been the opinion of Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
The first new video shows the mother and daughter walking through the mall. The video was recorded from a vantage point inside a Sony store.
The second video shows Nancy Bochicchio's SUV approaching and departing from a bank ATM. At the outset of the investigation, detectives were quickly able to identify witnesses in the area of the ATM and have already obtained statements. Police have not said if the killer could have been in the car with them as they were in the ATM.
Police released the videos hoping it will look familiar to someone who can help solve the case.
The Simon Property Group, which owns eight malls including Town Center, the Aventura Mall, The Falls and Sawgrass Mills plans placed poster-sized police fliers outside each of its malls.
"Triggers somebody's memory, someone that might have been there, that might have seen them," said Sandra Boohenberg of Boca Raton police.
The videos and sketch have been added to a MySpace page, dedicated to the Bochicchio investigation.
Click Here to view the MySpace page.
On the site, police state that the suspect(s) "used a variety of material to bind and control Joey and Nancy, including duct tape, plastic ties, handcuffs and goggles. "Their hands, feet, and neck were bound to restrict their movement in the vehicle. When they were discovered, the bindings on Nancy's wrists were broken. There is no direct evidence to suggest who broke the bonds or whether Nancy resisted the suspect(s) in any way."
The Web site report also reveals that Nancy Bochicchio made a 911 call to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, but that the phone went dead. Attempts to call back were unsuccessful.
Sheriff Bradshaw has indicated in previous interviews that "all signs are there" linking the murders of the Bochicchios in December and Randi Gorenberg in March, as well as an August 7th robbery, to the work of a serial killer preying on women at Town Center mall.
Both Randi Gorenberg and Nancy and Joey Bochiccio were killed after visiting the Boca Town Center Mall.
Gorenberg, 52, was shot and killed on March 23rd, 2007. She was last seen leaving the Town Center Mall walking toward her vehicle in the middle of the afternoon. Police believe she got in her Mercedes GL450 SUV but may have been carjacked. Her SUV was driven to Delray Beach, about five miles away, where she was shot in the head and dumped in the street in broad daylight.
Police have released new information about Gorenberg's murder as well.
CBS4 spoke to Paul Miller from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office Friday and he revealed two new clues in her case.
Miller said police are trying to locate anybody with information about a CD cover that was missing from her SUV the day of her murder. Investigators had already revealed that Gorenberg's shoes, purse and cell phone were missing from her vehicle but now reveal that she had purchased a John Legend CD at the mall about a half hour before she was killed.
"The CD itself was actually in the player but the CD cover and the cellophane were missing along with her shoes, purse and cell phone and other material," said Miller. Police want to know what happened to all of these missing items. "Somebody had to dispose of this material," said Miller.
In addition, Miller said, "Two rings were on her right pinky finger at the time her body was located after falling from the SUV. Her family and friends have no knowledge of these rings. The theory is, did hypothetically the subject himself put the rings on her finger or did she purchase them in the mall or the day before? We're interested in finding out if any merchant remembers selling these rings to Randi Gorenberg. We don't know where they came from and that seems very strange."
Click Here to see the Randi Gorenberg homicide flyer (pdf).
There are a lot of similarities in these cases.
Sheriff Bradshaw has revealed that dark goggles or masks were pulled over the heads of Nancy Bochicchio and the August 7th robbery victim. In addition, he said, the Bochicchio's and the August 7th victim were bound using plastic flex cuffs.
The Bochicchio's were killed on December 12th after being robbed, bound and shot to death. Their bodies were found in their SUV in the parking lot of the Town Center Mall during the height of the holiday shopping season.
The August 7th victim and her 2-year old son were held up at gunpoint in the parking lot of the same mall and she was also driving an SUV. It's believed the woman and child weren't hurt because she cooperated with the suspect and did not try to fight back.
The Boca Raton Police Department and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office created a task force to work on these cases in January.
"I just think is crazy that two totally different crimes can be together, so I'm glad that they are looking into it," said Tharp
If you have any information for investigators please call Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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