FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A wave of concern is spreading throughout a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood following the shooting deaths of an elderly couple.
“When I wake up, I worry,” said resident Elouise Lesane. “Even when I go to bed, I worry, because who did it and why?”
Major Melvin and his wife, Claudette, both in their late 80s, were found shot to death inside of the home they lived in for 50 years.
A relative found the bodies and called another family member, who then called 911.
Detectives have been told nothing of value was stolen, except for the couple’s car.
It’s a red 2014 Ford Fusion with Florida tag L-T-D Q-1-6.
Authorities said the vehicle has a scratch on the back driver-side door and dents on the back bumper.
“Whenever this happened, we didn’t hear any gunshots or anything like that,” said neighbor Ivan Jackson-Gopi. “I had my windows open over there. We would’ve heard a shot.”
Added Lesane: “What I heard was a big truck, and I called the police that night.”
That call to police was just hours before the couple was believed to have been murdered.
“Oh no, no arguing, no nothing,” Lesane said. “It was just the truck itself, came up and woke me up out of my sleep, 18-wheeler.”
Neighbors said that truck was out of place and parked in front of the victims’ home.
It’s unclear if there’s any connection to the crime that took the lives of a couple described as churchgoing matriarchs and patriarchs of the block.