Family members and police are hoping someone will come forward with information that will help solve the mysterious murders of an elderly Fort Lauderdale couple found shot to death in their home last month.
The family of Major and Claudette Melvin joined Fort Lauderdale Police detectives on Wednesday to ask for the public's help in solving their killings.
The husband and wife, who were 89 and 85 years old, were found shot to death inside their home in the 600 block of Southwest 30th Terrace back on March 22.
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"They were the most loving people that I’ve ever known. They lived in that area for many years. Whoever the perpetrator is they need to be found," said Tonya Mitchell, one of the couple's daughters.
Detectives have been following leads over the past couple weeks but no arrests have been made.
"I'm so numb I can’t feel. Yes, we are angry, we are very angry. We are still trying to wrap our minds about how can we? Who would? Who did? Why? So we ask those questions," said Kim Melvin Hill, another daughter of the couple.
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Police said the couple's vehicle was missing from their home and said a possible suspect may have taken the car, a 2014 red Ford Fusion with Florida tag LTDQ16.
“If you have any information on the car, any information on this maggot that was the individual we are asking the public, the media, please help us. We just want to find closure as to why. They didn’t deserve this,” Mitchell said through tears.
Detectives are hoping to get justice for the couple, who were married 61 years and leave behind 11 children and nearly 30 grandchildren.
“This one really hits home for not only me but my detectives, it does. This is a couple born right after the depression, lived through WWII, lived through the civil rights movement, Vietnam War, everything imaginable they’ve lived through and now we end like this," Fort Lauderdale Police Sgt. Donald Geiger said. "It’s something we are taking very seriously and we want to find who did this or who knows who did this."
A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information about the car or the incident is asked to call police at 954-828-5546.
