Decades-Long Mystery Solved: Eileen Truppner Identified as Victim of Brutal 1998 Murder, Lucious Boyd Indicted

Accident – Death – Obituary News : OAKLAND PARK, Fla. – Detectives in South Florida believe they have finally made a breakthrough in a decades-old cold case involving the brutal killing of a South Florida mother in 1998. The body of a woman was discovered by a boater in a grassy area off U.S. 27 in Southwest Broward County in December of that year. The victim had been brutally murdered, raped, and left for dead.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office faced significant challenges from the start as they only had the victim’s clothing and a sketch to work with. They searched missing persons databases and canvassed nearby businesses but were unable to find any leads. Furthermore, the lack of cellphone cameras and surveillance cameras in the remote area where the body was found hindered their investigation. As a result, the case eventually went cold.

However, Detective Zack Scott of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office cold case unit was determined not only to identify the victim but also to find her killer. While investigating another cold case involving suspected serial killer Roberto Wagner Fernandes, who was eventually linked to three homicides, detectives decided to retest the Jane Doe’s sexual assault kit in 2021 to see if Fernandes may have been responsible for her death.

To assist in their investigation, the detectives sought help from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s genetic genealogy unit. Through their efforts, FDLE was able to track down the DNA to three sisters. After conducting interviews, they determined that one of the sisters, Eileen Truppner, had gone off the grid in August 1998. Further analysis confirmed that Jane Doe was indeed Eileen Truppner.

“For 20-something years, there has been no closure, no justice for who is now identified as Eileen Truppner, that was our victim. She is no longer faceless. She is no longer nameless. That is important for us as a community to have that name, and it’s important for the family members,” stated Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony.

While the identification of Eileen Truppner brings some answers to her family, it also means delivering the devastating news that she was the victim of a murder. Nancy Truppner, Eileen’s sister, revealed that Eileen had immigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico and had suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her first child. The depression worsened after the birth of her second child, causing her to lose custody. Nancy stressed that Eileen did not realize she was sick and the last time she heard from her sister was in August 1998 when Eileen refused an offer to live with her, believing she could regain custody of her children.

The Truppner family hired a private investigator, but they never received definitive information about what happened to Eileen. The breakthrough in the case came when investigators linked Eileen Truppner’s DNA to Lucious Boyd, a suspected serial killer. Boyd’s DNA had been collected as evidence in the murder of 21-year-old Dawnia Dacosta, who had been killed approximately two weeks before Eileen Truppner. Dacosta’s body was found wrapped in sheets and a plastic shower curtain behind a South Florida warehouse.

On November 29, 2023, a grand jury indicted Lucious Boyd for Eileen Truppner’s murder. He is already on death row for Dacosta’s murder and now faces additional charges of first-degree murder and sexual battery. Sheriff Tony commended the collaborative efforts of BSO cold case detectives, crime lab analysts, and crime scene investigators for making Boyd’s indictment possible. He emphasized that justice has no expiration date.

BSO revealed that Boyd was known to travel throughout Florida and is a suspect in several other deaths in the state. Detectives are urging anyone who may have had contact with Boyd in the mid to late ’90s to come forward with any information that could assist in their ongoing investigation..