Wednesday, November 19, 2008
FBI, Fla. sheriff reopen probe of 1987 girl death
MIAMI (AP) -- Authorities say someone must have information about the 1987 disappearance of a little girl whose skeletal remains were found 10 months later, and they're offering a $25,000 reward and appealing to the public for clues as they reopen the investigation.
"Things like this don't happen in a vacuum. Somebody knows something, even after all these years," said Broward County sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal. "We just want them to come forward." The FBI and Broward sheriff issued the appeal Tuesday.
Three-year-old Julie Magliulo was last seen by her mother playing in her front yard in Pompano Beach -- about 35 miles north of Miami -- on June 8, 1987. The blonde, blue-eyed girl wearing red shorts and a blue T-shirt became the subject of a huge manhunt that included thousands of posters and police officers searching cars and going door-to-door through neighborhoods.
But not a trace of Julie was found. Then, on April 21, 1988 two men scouting a remote part of western Broward County -- now the town of Weston -- to practice shooting found the girl's skeletal remains. She had been asphyxiated.
Despite hundreds of investigative leads, little physical evidence was discovered, no witnesses came forward and no suspect was ever identified.
Gradually the case grew dormant. The FBI and sheriff's office decided to make a new public appeal as part of a nationwide initiative to focus attention on cold cases involving missing and murdered children The Magliulo case is one of five selected around the country, said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.
The $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Julie's death. People who think they know something were urged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI (1-800-225-5324).
"Now is the time to come forward," the FBI and sheriff's office said in a joint statement. "It is never too late to give any information that might help. Your call may be the one."
Investigators were interested in talking to anyone who had recently arrived in the Pompano Beach area in or around June 1987, or left abruptly after the girl's June 8 disappearance.
According to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, friends and family of the perpetrator might have noticed changes such as an increase or decrease in drugs or alcohol use; missing work or other appointments; unexplained injuries; changes in physical appearance such as beards or dyeing hair; or unusual interest in the status of the investigation.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
