Nov 20, 2008 8:09 pm US/Eastern
Broward Teen's Death 30 Years Ago Goes Unresolved
The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office Has Not Yet Determined A Cause Of Death
The family believes David Cusanelli, Klee's best friend at the time, is responsible for his disappearance.
CORAL SPRINGS (CBS4) ―
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Authorities announced that Klee's death will go unprosecuted.
CBS
Attorneys for the family of a missing Coral Springs teen, whose body was found thirty years later, held a news conference on Thursday to explain the circumstances surrounding the suspicious death. The 18-year-old's body was found in March at the bottom of a canal.
The news conference comes a day after authorities announced that Jeff Klee's death will go unprosecuted. They feel they have a ''suspect'', but prosecutors declined as Klee's death was beyond the statute of limitations for that offense.
Unlike first-degree murder, which has no statute of limitations, manslaughter charges lapse after four years.
While it is not known why prosecutors declined to pursue murder charges, one possible reason is that there was no clear evidence proving the death was intentional.
The family believes David Cusanelli, Klee's best friend at the time, is responsible for his disappearance.
"We are burdened by knowing that someone who we believe put out brother in his van and pushed him into a canal to be left for dead, will not be held legally accountable for the crime they committed," said Klee's sister, Laurel Steele.
The case dates back to July 1977, when Jeff W. Klee, who was 18-years-old, went missing. His friends from Coconut Creek High spent the night at bar in Tamarac. After he drove them home, he was never seen again.
In March of this year, Broward Sheriff's Office divers were pulling cars out from the C-14 canal during a routine search for insurance fraud scams. Inside one of the recovered vehicles, investigators found human remains.
The police reported the van discovered in the canal was registered to Jeff W. Klee.
Police say Cusanelli and Klee got into a fight over a girl back in 1977, and that during that fight, Klee either fell and hit his head on a rock or Cusanelli threw a rock.
A friend, Louis Greco, told CBS4 that Klee was a student at Coconut Creek High School, and that he disappeared one day out of the blue. "He vanished off the face of the earth one day. Just disappeared off the face of the earth," Greco said.
His sister, Sgt. Cyndy Klee, works for the Coral Springs Police Department.
Cusanelli had no comment and referred CBS4 News to his attorney, who says his client has nothing to do with the death.
For information on missing persons, please click on the Missing Children International Ministries, located at 12289 Pembroke Road.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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