BOCA RATON, Fla. — There's a heaviness in the South Florida community of Boca Raton as Thursday marks 17 years since the murders of Nancy and Joey Bochicchio.
Boca Raton police detectives confirmed to WPTV News anchor Ashley Glass there have been tips called in about the case as recently as a few weeks ago.
"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," said Jessica Desir, a spokesperson for the Boca Raton Police Department.
Crime
Unraveling mystery of Boca Raton murders 17 years later
Dec. 12, 2007
There were three cases in 2007 with ties to the Town Center at Boca Raton.
The first was in March when Randi Gorenberg was killed after a day of shopping. The second case gripped the community in August when a mother and her young son survived an abduction from the mall and the terrifying ride that followed.
Nancy Bochicchio of Boca Raton and her daughter, Joey, who was almost 8 years old at the time, went shopping for a gift card at the mall on Dec. 12, 2007, as described by JoAnn Bruno, the sister of Nancy Bochicchio.
"I was still on the phone with her when she got out of the car to walk into the mall, and that was our last conversation," Bruno said.
She never showed up for dinner that night, Bruno recalled.
"No one knew why," Bruno said. "I kept calling her. My kids kept calling her."
Investigators with the Boca Raton Police Department believe the mother and daughter were abducted from the mall in the afternoon hours and taken to an ATM to withdraw money.
Shortly before midnight, a mall security guard found Bochicchio's SUV idling in the parking lot. Both Nancy and Joey had been tied up and shot.
"They sat there for close to eight hours, nine hours in that car before they were even found," said retired FBI Special Agent John MacVeigh. "You know, we don't know if he stayed, if he came back. I mean, he might have. He might have come back to see if they were found."
Police said Nancy and Joey Bochicchio were bound with duct tape, plastic ties, handcuffs and goggles.
"I'm driven by this case because anyone who could shoot a 7-year-old girl in the face and her mother is dangerous, beyond dangerous, sociopath killer, hunter of women, and I'd like to see this guy caught," said John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted."
Walsh has profiled the Bochicchio case and others from 2007 connected to the mall on his show several times.
"Everybody would like to see this guy caught," Walsh said.
As time passes, it's harder for Bruno to believe that her sister and niece's killer will be caught.
"Every year it gets harder to keep the hope, but I do because I know the police are still working on it," Bruno said.
For retired Boca Raton police Capt. Matt Duggan, it's a crime he refuses to forget.
"This case affected me," Duggan said. "It affected everyone who worked on it."
So much so that he kept a photo of Nancy and Joey Bochicchio at his desk.
"I'd like to think I had a good career," Duggan said. "I'd like to think we put some bad guys away and worked some big cases, but it's not fulfilled, not complete."
Then there's Bruno, who still has an unfulfilled promise to keep.
"My husband and I both promised her before we came to meet her, we'd find this guy," Bruno said. "That's what I think every day, and I say to the police, you know, I need them to catch him. I feel that as a mother, I know my sister, the kind of mother she was, she's not at peace. I just pray to God that at least someday I can meet her and tell her, 'They got him, and he's paying.'"
If you have any information regarding the 2007 crimes with ties to the Town Center at Boca Raton, call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-TIPS. Tipsters could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. You can remain anonymous.
You can also contact the detectives assigned to these cold cases using the information below:
Detective Scott Hanley
Boca Raton Police Department
shanley@myboca.us
561-338-1344
Detective William Springer
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
springerw@pbso.org
561-688-4013
