Age-Progression Sketch Released In Unsolved 2001 Murder Of Aventura Man
AVENTURA (CBS4) - Police in Aventura have a new possible lead in a twelve year old murder.
Investigators have had an age progression sketch done of a person of interest in the murder of elderly Aventura man Irving "Al" Sicherer.
When his daughter Bev looked at the drawing, she couldn't help but wonder if the man in the drawing had something to do with her father's murder.
"He looks mean. He's ugly," said Bev Sicherer. "It's weird, it's like you can see the meanness in his soul, just by the picture."
"This is what we believe the person of interest might look like after 12 years," said Aventura Police Detective Olga Burns.
The age progression sketch done based on surveillance video that shows Al and young man at an Aventura Publix in July of 2001. Police believe Sicherer may have picked him up at the beach or a gay bar.
Later the two were seen on surveillance video at Sicherer's condo building. The guy vanished and Bev found her dad viciously beaten and stabbed in his apartment.
"There was blood from one end of the apartment to the other, spattered all over," said Bev. "I leaned down and I do remember his eyes were open and I said, 'you know, daddy, I'm so sorry.'"
The killer left behind some vital clues, fingerprints and DNA. Aventura police waited for years for a DNA hit and they thought they had a partial match from a Michigan prison inmate.
That turned into a dead end, so they're back to the video of the kid who walked hunched over a bit, with the tattoo or birthmark near his right elbow and this new age progression sketch.
"Maybe he was visiting somebody here during the time 12 years ago," said Det. Burns. "Maybe somebody recognizes him.
It's a long shot, one Bev hopes will pay off.
"My heart will never give up my brain sort of gave up," she said. "It's more realistic. Twelve years, I don't know. But in your heart you never give up. You always want to see justice."
If you have information that can help, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
