Man questioned on potential links to Boca Raton mall murders

AVENTURA, Fla. — Police questioned a man arrested Friday at a Miami-area mall for possible links to the murders of a mother and daughter at a Boca Raton mall.

A shopper at the Aventura Mall north of Miami tipped police that she saw a man fitting the description of a sketch of the Boca Town Center suspect. Aventura police Capt. Skip Washa told local newspapers that 27-year-old Robert Bodek of Miami was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after becoming belligerent.

Bodek resembles a police sketch of the Boca mall killer and had in his possession a pair of sunglasses and a floppy hat similar to those in the sketch, Washa said. He listed his occupation as student and has no previous Florida arrest record.

The arrest came a day after the release of surveillance video of a suspicious man following a woman and child on April 30 at Aventura Mall. Bodek acknowledged he had been in the mall a week ago but was with his mother at the time, according to a police affidavit.

The bodies of Nancy Bochicchio, 47, and her 7-year-old daughter Joey were discovered in their car outside the Boca mall in December. Nancy Bochicchio had a pair of swimming goggles covered with black cloth over her eyes and she was bound with plastic ties.

A second mother and child were abducted in August in a similar fashion at the Boca mall but the man let them go after an hours-long ordeal.

The city of Boca Raton has offered a $350,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the murder case.

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