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Subscribe to RSSFor nearly five years, Lillian Cuevas and her mother Margarita Goedeke have been handing out fliers, looking for answers, NBCMiami.com reported. "We're never going to stop until we get justice for him," Lillian Cuevas said.
They keep her brother and Margarita's son Franco Cuevas close to their heart after he was murdered in Florida in November 2007. First, it was a missing persons case. A year later, parts of his body were found in Palm Beach Gardens in a metal box.
"Half of me died with him and it's been like that every single day,” his mother Margarita Goedeke said. “Just awful to think of what happened to him, what they did to him."
Detectives and his family believe Cuevas was killed at a kitchen supply business he owned, Pyro Industries, in Pompano Beach.
"He was a good boss. He was a good man,” Lillian Cuevas said. “He had a lot of workers he went above and beyond for."
'Be brave enough'
Now, that side of the building sits empty and unused.
"For us to know his phone was last pinged here and for us to know the history and the problems he was having … we know that the people who worked here know something, and we want them to be brave enough and kind enough to call in Crime Stoppers," Cuevas said.
Detectives executed a search warrant at Pyro Industries after his body was identified. A week later, his business partner left and hasn't been heard from since.
The Cuevas family isn't giving up hope. They make the drive often to Broward from Collier County where they live to find justice for their son, brother, and a father of four.
In addition to the $1,000 reward offered by Crime Stoppers, the Cuevas family is offering $19,000 for information that leads to an arrest. If you know anything, call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
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A search of the premises and then his partner goes missing, Was the partner a person of interest at the time? So many unanswered questions here.
Never give up!
It is hard enough losing a loved one who dies in an accident or unexpectedly from natural causes, but to lose them to murder is another matter altogether. I know because I had a relative who was murdered and understand those feelings.There are some questions that can haunt folks. And as others have stated, not knowing the answers to those can leave wounds unable to heal. People can also feel guilty about what they did or didn't do on the day a loved one died. Some simple as forgetting to call, to say they loved someone, having yelled or argued with them, or forgetting to pick someone up or arriving late, breaking a routine or not stopping by when they felt they should and dismissing those feelings.That big "if I had only" which so many loved ones talk about struggling with after they have lost a loved one. Often there is a silence burden carried after the media has stopped focusing on the case and families can be torn apart, divorces happen.Truly murder has more than the person who died as tragic victims in a society. Hopefully someone will come forward eventually with the information to help this family find answers and peace at last.
that's right! Keep praying and hoping. Before you know it, something or someone will lead you directly to the source. No one can hide from God's Eyes!!
Seems like they need to find this "partner" and have him answer some questions. Wonder why that is taking so long? Hope they get some help. Some one knows something. There is evidence and they need to find it.
Hopefully those who know will have the courage and decency to come forward.
I too hope they will never give up and someone will get involved who cares enough to solve this. It is solvable.
Agree, they need to find him, could be in another border country, if so were there other things involved, trafficking , drugs ? Hire a detective..
Good luck.
How about giving us the name of the business partner?
Or is it a secret?
And photos. No reason for it to be covered up.
Bens...agreed...I hate it when the local radio station reports someone took this child or this person is missing, then don't give you descriptions...makes no sense to me.
after five years, anyone who did know anything would have talked by now, especially with a total of 20k on the line, unless he had a lot of illegals working for him and regardless of the money, they are too afraid to come forward. Godspeed to them and I hope they get answers soon.
Or it could be that the employees know but feel their lives or families lives would be in jeopardy if the killers found out they snitched.
Typical half assed MSNBC story. His business partner could have been Raoul Castro for all this story tells you.
There is merely the acknowledgement that our savior Christ Jesus will provide the eternal justice and salvation to those with commensurate faith. As a victim of terrorism before the 9-11 attack, it is imperative to share a prospective which can only be conveyed with an opportunity to suggest that Vacation Bible School in 1957 enabled an attitude to encompass the gross failures of societies and the vast revelations of faith in our Creator. While the Spirit is released with extreme sadness, disappointment and heartache, the vision of righteousness is presented with clarity. This clarity, as can be expected, results in hostility, contempt & rage, all directed in retaliation to evil, misinformation & lies.
While I appreciate what you say, Mike, I doubt the family feels all that good about justice by Jesus...I am aslo quite sure that they would have preferred him to be around a little bit llonger.
This is so sad. I wish them peace. Hopefully they will find what they need to get closure- I can't imagine losing a loved one in such a horrible way.
There is no peace. There is no closure. Just a hole and many unanswered questions. Even if the murdering scum were before you and told you every answer you are still left with the hole.
I hope they find a resolution to this case. I also hope the grieving find peace and closure.
Why didn't the article include the name and even a picture of the partner. There is nothing in this article that would help the public help this family.
From The Palm Beach Post,
"Cuevas made one of his employees, Hagen Christ, a partner in 2007. According to Christ, Cuevas never arrived at the warehouse for a scheduled meeting on Nov. 3, 2007.
In the days after Cuevas disappeared, police said Christ withdrew $58,500 from Cuevas' personal bank account. Christ told police he withdrew the money to meet payroll expenses. Christ also removed Cuevas' cars from a company insurance policy, saving the business more than $6,500 at a time Cuevas was only listed as missing."
I wonder if the police have bothered to look for Mr. Christ.
Taking the money out of the bank account raises red flags but removing the cars from the company insurance sounds like a practical business move.
Why? When the guy was only "missing" at the time??? Sounds like the partner probably knew he wasn't ever coming back!
Is it just me or do others believe "closure" is just a bunch of hogwash? The man is dead and knowing who and why isn't going to bring him back. I don't advocate killing your business partner for some early retirement money, but what is justice? Reclaiming the money and cars? Crucifying Hagen Christ? Killing him and chopping up his body (an eye for an eye)? Don't people ever just accept that there are some things in a life that suck and they've got to put it behind them and move on. Every one has a story to tell about getting screwed by the government, a girl friend, or a business partner. It's not a perfect world and the most angelic people aren't going to make it perfect.
You're a cold human being. A little empathy goes a long way.
You, sir, are a bastard. Let this happen to someone that YOU love; you then will discover the amount of hogwash that closure is.
So yeah, just you.
If it was my son, I'd hunt whoever did this to the ends of the Earth and rip them to shreds...slowly. Obviously kountryking's life is one without anything of worth in it, or anything worth fighting for...sad for him.
I believe that "closure" is kind of a new-age, pop-psychology term without much value.
However, most of us believe in justice - and justice can heal some of the hurt associated with the loss. It won't cure it, it won't "close" it, but if it provides even a small amount of solace, then it is a good thing. We also need it as a society.
kountry - you do seem to be without any sort of empathy, ie heartless.
This isn't a story about someone being screwed over. This is a story about some people losing a loved one to murder - that's a world of difference. Obviously, you have lived a very sheltered life to make these kind of comments. Put it behind them? Wow, just wow. Spoken by someone who has never had tragedy in their life.
You are a rude dog & need to learn to keep your nasty thoughts to yourself.
Kountryclueless-Think you'd feel differently if it was your father, brother, son etc..!!!!! Whatis the point in your comment at all?!?!?!
The point of the comment is that "closure" is crap, you all don't seem smart enough to understand that, well a couple of you might. Getting closure isn't going to change the facts and if you think closure actually makes a difference you're a fool, with a brain that's fooling itself. That's all closure really is, your brain is attempting to protect you from further distress and with that last bit of information your brain can rationalize the event. If you really knew what empathy was you wouldn't say he doesn't have any. Everyone grieves in their own way, for you to judge someone else for showing something outwardly and call them a cold human being only proves to pigeonhole yourselves as small minded individuals.
Yep, just you.
The articles mentions the family needing help to find someone, but there is no information as to the missing business partner's name, nationality (or former nationality), no photos, nothing.
Why even ask for help and mention a reward if basic information is being withheld?
"He was a good boss. He was a good man,” Lillian Cuevas said. “He had a lot of workers he went above and beyond for." NOBODY is killed for nothing. There are perhaps a thousand reasons why this man is dead. He did something horrific to someone ...
Not true. There are many innocent people killed by evil ones for various reasons.
You're sick & rude & should learn to keep your big fat mouth zipped.
Raymond that's just a load of BS!!! You don't have anything to back that statement up with!!!
My guess is that his partner did it.
I would bet that the partner got caught with his finger in the till, so to speak. The partner, being the kind of person he seems to be ( by his disappearing act), murdered him.
yes, dman....and the name they knew the partner by is probably an alias....and any photo would be at least 5 years old.
I wonder if this is the partner:
Sounds like his business partner knows more about it then he is letting on. A normal person friend or partner usually checks in with the family or has some sympathy for the family after a tragedy. If no one has heard from him or seen him either he is involved or who ever murdered the man is keeping tabs on him as well.
Parts found in a metal box? Sounds like family deal. Nobody is going to rob someone and take the time to cut them up and put into a metal box. If he was a great man as they say - he must have pissed someone off - so maybe he was not so great.
Wow.
Raymond and cal680 live in a strange world. So if you are murdered, for the profit of someone else, you must have some serious character flaw?
Glad I don't live there.
"We're never going to stop until we get justice for him."
I seriously doubt he's sittin' around pining for "justice."
Again.......ya, just you LOL
Reminiscent of the Gestapo over 70 years ago.
God always have his own way of finding the person responsible to this horrible crime. It's a little late but my prayers go out to the family...