Exclusive: Slain Postal Carrier's Daughter Pleads For Help
DAVIE (CBS4) - The daughter of a beloved postal carrier who was gunned down while delivering mail on December 6th is pleading for the public's help and asking that "anyone who knows anything about this crime" call the authorities.
"I do hope that somebody has seen something," said Nina Parton, one of the three children of veteran postal carrier Bruce Parton, who was shot and killed near the end of his shift between 2:45 and 3:00 p.m. in the area of 486 N.W. 165th St. Road.
Parton told CBS4's Peter D'Oench in an exclusive interview that, "My father was working in a populated area. So I do hope that somebody knows something. They may think it's not relevant. Call them and let them put the pieces together."
Her father was delivering mail near an apartment complex in a very busy area, just east of I-95 and near the Golden Glades Interchange.
"If they found this person," said Parton. "then we could rest easy. It's difficult knowing that this person is still out there. This could happen to somebody else."
She told D'Oench that her father was a devoted Dad, a loving grandfather of her two children and a dedicated postal worker who was a month shy of his retirement. Parton had been with the postal service for nearly 30 years.
The postal service is not saying if anything was stolen from his postal truck and it's not known what the motive was. Parton was shot twice. Neighbors say five shots were fired.
"As far as I know, they still don't have a motive yet and that's pretty tough," Parton said. "Like if they wanted something in the truck, mailmen get out of their trucks all the time, just wait. So that part is just what's very hard to get my mind around. Why would you do a thing like that?"
"It's just such a shock," Parton told D'Oench. "You know, no one expected something like this to happen. And it's unfortunate stuff like this does happen. He was such a wonderful man, just so loving and everyone who knew him loved him. You don't even think that something like this can happen to you. He was such a gentle guy. He had a hello for everyone."
Parton showed D'Oench a montage of photos from her father's funeral service last weekend and said she was touched by the hundreds of postal carriers who showed up.
"This was one bright spot to get to meet the people that he touched," said Parton. "Lots of people don't get to hear from the people that they touched so that part was very touching."
"He was such a wonderful man, just so loving and just, everyone who knew him loved him. He was so helpful," said Parton. "He loved little kids. Like my two kids. They used to jump on his back and he would carry them around. It was just such a shock because you know this really hits hard."
She said her father was looking forward to both the holidays and his retirement.
"Just this last September we took an annual trip as a family and we were looking forward to doing that again," Parton said. "And to lose him at the holidays. It was just, I mean, really rough."
"He was looking forward to his retirement," she said. "To her how excited he was going to get. He kept talking about it, like going to retire in the mountains."
She said her father was always around for her and her siblings. He was even at the hospital for the birth of her oldest daughter, Erin.
"I hope that anybody who knows anything about this crime calls the authorities," said Parton. "This was a huge loss that my entire family feels."
Any information concerning this crime should be provided to either the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 (select Option 2) or Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman or gunmen.
The same reward may be paid for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person who was an accessory to the crime or who was part of a conspiracy to commit the crime or who received or has possessed any property that was illegally taken from Parton's truck.
