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Jun 8, 2009 11:23 pm US/Eastern
Community Meets To Find Answers On Cat Killer
Crime Stoppers Reward Now $7,500
Tipsters Will Remain Anonymous
Two more killed in Kendall
KENDALL (CBS4) ―
Twisted, terrible cat killings are the talk of Laurie Ochmanski's Cutler Bay neighborhood.
"It's very disturbing, very disturbing. My babysitter's cat was slaughtered; my neighbor's cat was slaughtered," Ochmanski told
CBS4 Reporter Natalia Zea.
Ochmanski kept her cat locked up inside while she attended a community meeting with about a dozen community members, police officers and local leaders. "I was looking to see if we had any further updates; it seems like the police officers are just as frustrated as the civilians."
Police say they have assigned 16 officers to a special task force hoping to catch the cat killer. They also said at the meeting at their Palmetto Bay substation that out of the more than two dozen cases they have investigated, only 12 of the dead cats are confirmed to be intentional, brutal killings. In other cases, the evidence can no longer be used.
Police say the cats that have been confirmed as victims of this serial cat killer include five in Cutler Bay and five just a little north in Palmetto Bay. The two latest were in Kendall.
These killings have left many families, like Barbara Mesa's, in tears. "It was horrible to see that cat laying there with his head crushed wide open; it was incredibly horrible, it was like a homicide for a family who's had a cat that long."
The killings have neighbors like Ochmanski wondering what could come next. "This type of crime leads to bigger crimes….like your serial killer, that type thing. I think (the police) are trying to keep people from getting panicky but we want to help."
Police 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 Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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