First disturbance more than a month before official start of 2024 Atlantic Hurricane SeasonPainting rain barrels for a good cause
Susan Schorpen. Photo via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. SARASOTA, Fla. (WTSP) The 47-year-old mother of Carlie Brucia, a young girl who was abducted, raped and murdered in 2004, has died, WTSP reported. Susan Schorpen passed away Monday. While no cause of death has been announced, foul play is not suspected. Brucia was the subject of a days-long search after she disappeared in February 2004. The girl’s body was found behind a Sarasota church, according to WTSP. Joseph Smith was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing Brucia behind a car wash on Bee Ridge Road. He was sentenced to death in March 2006. Smith appealed his death sentence last month. No further information is immediately available.