Elderly couple found shot to death in Fort Lauderdale home, officials say

An elderly couple was found shot to death in their home in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, police and family say. Their car is missing and a possible suspect remains at large.

Claudette Melvin, 85, and her husband, Major, 89, had no enemies, their daughter, Tonya Mitchell, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday. They were kind, church-going people who had lived in Florida for 50 years.

For unknown reasons, Mitchell said, someone walked into their home on Southwest 30th Terrace on Friday and shot and killed them both.

“It’s like a damn hit,” she said. “It sounds like something on TV. Who would want to kill them? My parents never did anything to nobody.”

Fort Lauderdale Police responded to a call for service at the home a little after 7:20 p.m. Friday, spokesperson Casey Liening said in an email, though she did not provide many details. There, police found the couple, both with gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead on scene.

“A homicide investigation was initiated to determine if foul play was involved,” Liening said.

During the investigation, detectives learned the victims’ car was missing.

“Detectives believe a possible suspect may have taken the victims’ vehicle from the scene,” Liening said. “At this time, the vehicle has not been located.”

Liening could not say definitively Wednesday whether the person who took the car also shot and killed Claudette and Major Melvin, if foul play was involved in their deaths, or if whoever shot them is at large.

“Additional information, such as locating the victims’ vehicle, is necessary before we can make any final determinations,” she said in a text.

Mitchell said that whoever shot her parents entered through the front door, which she found odd. Usually her parents locked the front door and visitors would enter through the back door, which has a bell attached.

First, that person saw her father, Mitchell said, who was asleep on the couch, and shot him, point blank. When her mother came out to see what was going on, that person shot and killed her. She was in her underwear.

Mitchell’s brother, who is in his 70s, lives with his parents but didn’t hear anything, she said. He has special needs.

As far as Mitchell knows, nothing was taken from the house besides their red car, a 2014 Ford Fusion, for which police have issued a “BOLO” (be on the lookout). Her mother’s purse still had money in it; both of her parents’ cellphones remained untouched.

#FLPD Have you seen this vehicle? This specific red Ford Fusion is involved in a death investigation and our detectives need your help locating it. If you've seen it, please call Detective Sergeant Geiger at 954-828-6958 or @crimestoppers2. pic.twitter.com/M8kDO9VZzi

— Fort Lauderdale Police (@ftlauderdalepd) March 26, 2024

Mitchell, who lives in North Carolina, heard the news Friday evening. Her uncle called her and told her, “get here now, something happened to your mother,” she said. When she arrived at the home on Saturday, she recalled, a detective told her her parents had been murdered.

“I said, ‘murdered?'” Mitchell said incredulously.

Police found 9-millimeter shell casings at the scene, she said. She hopes someone who knows something will come forward.

“We just want the world to know that we’re looking for that red car,” Mitchell said. “And whoever did this needs to be brought to justice.”

Anyone with information should contact Detective Almanzar 954-828-5546 or Detective Swisher 954-828-4007.