Southeast
Luxury Florida mall's string of murders and kidnapping have one thing in common: retired FBI agent
It’s been 18 years since a South Florida community was rocked by a series of murders and a kidnapping at a local mall, and a retired FBI agent who worked on the cases for over a decade believes the crimes are connected and that the killer may still be “out there.”
After shopping at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall, mother of two Randi Gorenberg and Nancy Bochicchio and her 7-year-old daughter Joey were murdered, and another mother known as Jane Doe was kidnapped with her 2-year-old son, all within a nine-month timeframe in 2007.
“I heard about them just like everybody else on the news, and it was just horrible,” retired FBI Agent John MacVeigh, who investigated the three cases for 10 years, told Fox News Digital. “We contacted Boca Police Department, knowing that it was something that, you know, we could possibly assist.”
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Nancy and Joey Bochicchio were found dead at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall in 2007, and their murders remain unsolved. (Facebook/Boca Raton Police Department)
Gorenberg, 52, was last seen on surveillance video walking out of the Town Center Mall in the early afternoon of March 23, 2007. About 45 minutes later, someone called 911 from a park about five miles away, claiming to hear gunshots and seeing someone being pushed out of a vehicle. Authorities soon found Gorenberg’s body at Governor Lawton Chiles Memorial Park.
“It does appear that she resisted at some point,” MacVeigh said of Gorenberg. “She was shot and basically thrown out the car while the suspect drove away.”
Less than five months later, Jane Doe and her young son were kidnapped from the parking lot at the same mall. MacVeigh described the harrowing incident as Jane Doe got into her SUV Aug. 7, 2007.
“She puts her son from the passenger side into the center car seat. She walks around to the trunk,” MacVeigh said. “She opens the trunk. She puts the stroller in. She walks back around. As she opens the door to get in the driver’s seat, the suspect had already jumped in the back passenger seat. Now, you’re talking seconds … so he had to be extremely close to her.”
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Randi Gorenberg, a 52-year-old wife and mother of two, was killed in 2007 about half an hour after she went shopping at the Boca Town Center Mall. Her murder remains unsolved. (Facebook/Justice for Randi Gorenberg)
The suspect forced Jane Doe to drive to an ATM and take out $600.
“Just terrified. I mean, she’s in the car with her 2-year-old, and this man has got a gun on her and threatening her,” MacVeigh said.
Unusually, the perpetrator seemed to be “a little bit sympathetic” toward the mother and son, the retired FBI agent added. The gunman decided to drive them back to the mall, where he put blacked-out swim goggles over her eyes and handcuffed her wrists before fleeing.
MacVeigh said, to escape, Jane Doe “took the handcuffs and went up under her feet around to get out from behind her back” and then drove to the valet and reported the attack.
“It was just so blatant and bizarre because you just wouldn’t think that somebody would be accosted in the middle of the day — handcuffed, blindfolded — forced to go to an ATM and then brought back to the same location and dropped off,” he said. “It wasn’t the norm.”
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Nancy and Joey Bochicchio were found dead at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall in 2007, and their murders remain unsolved. (Facebook/Boca Raton Police Department)
Four months later, 47-year-old Bochicchio and her young daughter Joey went shopping at the Boca Raton Town Center Dec. 12, 2007. And, just like in the case of the abduction, authorities believe they were attacked as they were trying to leave the mall’s parking lot.
Investigators believe they were abducted and taken to an ATM, where they were forced to withdraw $500 and that the suspect used duct tape, plastic ties, handcuffs and goggles to bind and control Bochicchio and her daughter, according to the Boca Raton Police Department’s website.
“Nancy resists. She breaks her handcuffs. We do believe that she tried to get Joey out of the car, and then he turned around and shot both of them,” MacVeigh said.
Officers found the mother and daughter dead shortly before midnight in their vehicle in the mall’s parking lot with the car’s engine still running, police say.
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Joey Bochicchio and her mother, Nancy, were abducted and later found shot and killed inside their SUV, which was still running in the Boca Raton Town Center mall parking lot in 2007. (Facebook/Boca Raton Police Department)
Now a private investigator, MacVeigh observed an similar theme in all three attacks tied to the local mall.
“The suspect was trying to control women,” he explained. In both the Jane Doe and Bochicchio cases, the suspect used a pair of blacked-out swim goggles, as well as other material, to bind and control the victims.
MacVeigh said another repeated detail was the time of day. All three crimes took place in “broad daylight” and “right around the same time.”
“It’s not a small little coincidence. There’s not … one or two small things. This is an accumulation of things,” he added, referring to the related details among the cases.
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Police said the suspect(s) used duct tape, plastic ties, handcuffs and goggles to bind and control Joey and Nancy. The Jane Doe kidnapping just months prior also involved a pair of goggles. (Facebook/Boca Raton Police Department)
Detectives with the Boca Raton Police Department and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office created a task force in January 2007 to work together on solving the Gorenberg and Bochicchio murders, according to the Boca Raton Police Department website. However, the task force later disbanded, and both departments continued working on the individual cases with the FBI’s assistance, MacVeigh said.
Investigators collected several hundred pieces of evidence from the Bochicchio crime, including DNA samples, and “a massive investigation involving resources from around the country” unfolded, the Boca Raton police website added. Detectives went through hours of surveillance video, searched various locations and followed up on leads.
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“We sent agents to the mall because they were interested in trying to find out if maybe it was somebody that had worked there,” MacVeigh said. “We issued subpoenas, and we went door to door. It was pretty overwhelming because you don’t realize how many people work at that mall. And I think the number when we were done was somewhere in the neighborhood of 14,000.”
After her abduction, authorities spoke with Jane Doe about the individual who attacked her and created a composite sketch to try to determine his identity.
“You and I could both be that composite. I mean, it’s just you have a hat on with glasses and all you’re seeing is the bottom part of the face,” MacVeigh explained about the drawing’s details.
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Nancy and Joey Bochicchio were found dead at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall in 2007, and their murders remain unsolved. (Boca Raton Police Department)
Randi Gorenberg, a 52-year-old wife and mother of two, was killed in 2007, about half an hour after she went shopping at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall. Her murder remains unsolved. (Facebook/Justice for Randi Gorenberg)
Despite two people of interest being initially identified in the Bochicchio case, according to police, all three cases remain unsolved, and MacVeigh believes the crimes are all connected.
“It’s just so hard to believe that it’s not the same person,” MacVeigh said. “Three of these incidences … in the same area, and very similar. Here you have a very affluent mall … and, you know, you are targeting people that you suspect have money.
“While there is presently no physical or forensic evidence directly linking this case to any other investigations, there are enough similarities to lead Boca Raton investigators to believe this case is related to the August 7, 2007 Town Center Mall carjacking incident,” the Boca Raton Police Department states on its website, referring to the Bochicchio murders being related to the Jane Doe abduction.
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Boca Raton Town Center Mall (MediaPunch Inc/Alamy Stock Photo)
MacVeigh said he continues to get calls from investigators who are still tracking down new leads and working on the case today.
“As technology changes and evolves regarding DNA testing, this case is continuously being reevaluated. We remain optimistic that technological advances will lead our investigators to a breakthrough in the investigation,” Jessica Desir, a spokesperson for the Boca Raton Police Department, told WPTV last month regarding the Bochicchio murders.
MacVeigh explained that although the Boca Raton Town Center Mall might have more security measures in place today, a killer is still “out there probably committing other crimes.”
“You want to feel safe going to the mall,” MacVeigh added, stressing the importance of finally solving the cases and getting justice for the Gorenberg and Bochicchio families.
The Boca Raton Police Department, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Boca Raton Town Center Mall did not immediately respond for comment.
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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.
The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.
Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.
Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.
Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original.
“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.
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“It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.
Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.
In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”
“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.
“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”
“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.
The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.
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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.
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Southeast
Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges
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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)
Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day.
He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later.
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing.
A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding.
In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported.
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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”
“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said.
“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”
Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia. (Provided)
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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person.
“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states.
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Southeast
Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’
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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.
The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.
The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.
The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.
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DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.
The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.
The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”
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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.
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