Slaying At Florida Golf Course Rattles Retirement Community
With two bullets bleeding the life from her, Cynthia Moffett staggered from her Florida golf course pro shop Thursday evening and lurched into the night.
She didn't make it far. Investigators say the 52-year-old Florida golf course pro shop worker collapsed and died just steps from the building, in sight of the fairways at the Forest Oaks Golf Club near Greenacres.
Her killer escaped unseen, triggering a murder investigation that has puzzled sheriff's detectives and horrified retirees of the surrounding Lucerne Lakes development.
Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators said Friday that the killing of the suburban Boca Raton woman appeared to be a botched robbery. There were no known witnesses or suspects, and nothing appeared to be missing from the store, according to a sheriff's office spokesman.
Officials found rolls of coins scattered on the ground near Moffett's body. Detectives say she was last seen alive around 5 p.m. as she was preparing to close the Florida golf course shop. At 6:45 p.m., a man cutting across the Florida golf course to get to his house found her body.
The Florida golf course, normally crowded on weekdays, was closed Friday, and the pro shop was sealed off with crime scene tape as investigators scoured for clues and employees embraced in the parking lot.
The killing occurred on a pristine-looking stretch of green along a gentle curve at 144 Lucerne Lakes Blvd. The pro shop, a shingled two-story A-frame building, sits near the road, nestled between tennis courts and a path to the fairways.
Frequent customers recalled Moffett as friendly and peppy, a consistently cheerful presence in the store. She had been working there about a year, handling a range of duties from running the register to making sandwiches. Customers greeted news of her slaying with disbelief.
"I was devastated. I knew her," said Elizabeth Ricefield, a neighborhood resident who often golfed on the Florida golf course.
Ricefield said when the development was without electricity for days after Hurricane Wilma last year, Moffett used the gas power at the pro shop to cook chicken and rice for any neighbors willing to shell out a few dollars for a warm meal.
Larry Godwin, a U.S. postal worker who has delivered mail in the neighborhood for five years, called Moffett a "really, really nice lady" who found time after work to teach math and reading skills to the children of non-English-speaking migrant workers.
Moffett moved to South Florida from Michigan and lived most recently in an apartment west of Boca Raton, records show. A sheriff's spokesman said she was engaged to be married.
No one from Moffett's family could be reached Friday. Her supervisors at the Florida golf course pro shop declined to comment.
The investigation left shocked looks on residents' faces as they passed by and ogled the crime scene tape.
"This is a retiree neighborhood," said Allison Waters, who met Moffett on occasional golf outings with her 16-year-old son. "That's why I moved here, because it's nice and quiet."
It is never safe on a Florida Golf Course, or is it?
She didn't make it far. Investigators say the 52-year-old Florida golf course pro shop worker collapsed and died just steps from the building, in sight of the fairways at the Forest Oaks Golf Club near Greenacres.
Her killer escaped unseen, triggering a murder investigation that has puzzled sheriff's detectives and horrified retirees of the surrounding Lucerne Lakes development.
Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators said Friday that the killing of the suburban Boca Raton woman appeared to be a botched robbery. There were no known witnesses or suspects, and nothing appeared to be missing from the store, according to a sheriff's office spokesman.
Officials found rolls of coins scattered on the ground near Moffett's body. Detectives say she was last seen alive around 5 p.m. as she was preparing to close the Florida golf course shop. At 6:45 p.m., a man cutting across the Florida golf course to get to his house found her body.
The Florida golf course, normally crowded on weekdays, was closed Friday, and the pro shop was sealed off with crime scene tape as investigators scoured for clues and employees embraced in the parking lot.
The killing occurred on a pristine-looking stretch of green along a gentle curve at 144 Lucerne Lakes Blvd. The pro shop, a shingled two-story A-frame building, sits near the road, nestled between tennis courts and a path to the fairways.
Frequent customers recalled Moffett as friendly and peppy, a consistently cheerful presence in the store. She had been working there about a year, handling a range of duties from running the register to making sandwiches. Customers greeted news of her slaying with disbelief.
"I was devastated. I knew her," said Elizabeth Ricefield, a neighborhood resident who often golfed on the Florida golf course.
Ricefield said when the development was without electricity for days after Hurricane Wilma last year, Moffett used the gas power at the pro shop to cook chicken and rice for any neighbors willing to shell out a few dollars for a warm meal.
Larry Godwin, a U.S. postal worker who has delivered mail in the neighborhood for five years, called Moffett a "really, really nice lady" who found time after work to teach math and reading skills to the children of non-English-speaking migrant workers.
Moffett moved to South Florida from Michigan and lived most recently in an apartment west of Boca Raton, records show. A sheriff's spokesman said she was engaged to be married.
No one from Moffett's family could be reached Friday. Her supervisors at the Florida golf course pro shop declined to comment.
The investigation left shocked looks on residents' faces as they passed by and ogled the crime scene tape.
"This is a retiree neighborhood," said Allison Waters, who met Moffett on occasional golf outings with her 16-year-old son. "That's why I moved here, because it's nice and quiet."
It is never safe on a Florida Golf Course, or is it?
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