Secrets in the Canal

Summary

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48 Hours – "Secrets in the Canal"

CBS News | October 23, 2025

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Episode Overview

"Secrets in the Canal" explores the decades-long mystery surrounding the disappearance and death of 18-year-old Jeff Klee of Coral Springs, Florida, in 1977. Through gripping interviews with family, detectives, and witnesses, the episode dissects the stalled investigation, theories of murder and cover-up, and the emotional toll on the Klee family. Ultimately, the truth emerges only decades later, but justice remains elusive due to legal technicalities and the limits of evidence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Disappearance of Jeff Klee

• Immediate Aftermath
  • Jeff Klee, eldest of four and beloved son, vanished after a night out with friends at the Crown Lounge on June 21, 1977.
  • His mother, Flossy Klee, reported him missing the next morning but felt dismissed by police due to her son's age and the era's less sophisticated investigative tools.

    “When your child goes missing like that, you don't know how could this happen?” — Flossy Klee (03:14)

  • The Klee family, left without support or answers, suspected foul play.

The 1970s Context and Initial Investigation

• Law Enforcement Limitations
  • Coral Springs was a quiet suburb with scant violent crime and limited resources.
  • Technology and methods at the time made disappearances easier; no surveillance, cell phones, or interconnected databases.
• Family and Social Tensions
  • The police scrutinized Klee’s family due to aspects like his father's gambling and a large life insurance policy, which Flossy dismissed as irrelevant family practice.
  • The family also grew suspicious of Jeff’s best friend, David Cucinelli, who was the last known person to see Jeff and suddenly quit working at the family business after Jeff disappeared.

Rumors, Dead Ends, and False Hope

• In 1981, high school acquaintance Michael Collister told Jeff’s sister Laurel that Jeff was alive and living under a new identity due to a drug deal gone bad, a claim he later denied to detectives.
• Detective Bob Vernon took over the case in 1982 and was frustrated by a nearly empty case file.

  "It was basically an empty folder." — Detective Bob Vernon (12:59)

• An odd letter from Attica State Prison was received, from an inmate named Scott Rango, who was living nearby at the time of Jeff's disappearance and convicted of violent crimes. Vernon briefly became convinced Rango was the perpetrator until Rango’s suicide ruled out further investigation.

New Evidence and Breakthrough (2008)

• Discovery of the Van
  • In 2008, during canal dredging, police found Jeff's long-lost black van submerged and deteriorated, with his scuba license and personal effects inside and Jeff's skeletal remains (19:53).
  • The van was only a few miles from the family home, discrediting theories that Jeff had run away or moved far away.

    "It's incredible to think that... about three and a half, four miles from our house, this is where my son's resting place was." — Flossy Klee (20:41)

• New Witness: Dana Holmes
  • In 2008, Dana Holmes came forward with a crucial statement: eight years prior, Jeff’s best friend David Cucinelli had drunkenly confessed to “killing his best friend… but it was an accident.”
  • Holmes identified David Cucinelli in a photo lineup (24:13).

Re-Opening the Case: Police Interviews and New Suspicions

• The Motive Uncovered

  • Ginny Healy, Jeff’s high school girlfriend, admitted for the first time that she had been with David Cucinelli on David’s birthday, prompting an argument and breakup with Jeff (25:31).

    “Well, he was pretty mad. So we broke up.” — Ginny Healy (25:53)

  • Police saw this as a possible motive for confrontation.

• Police Interrogations: Cucinelli Brothers

  • David and his brother Carl both agreed to police interviews. Inconsistencies emerged regarding their presence on the night in question.
  • Carl eventually admitted to helping dispose of the van but denied seeing Jeff’s body or knowing the details (31:19).

    “David called me up and told me that there was a problem. I guess I went out and met him. I must have helped him dispose of the vehicle. I helped him push it in.” — Carl Cucinelli (31:56)

• David Cucinelli's Partial Confession

  • Confronted with his brother's admission, David’s story wavered. He suggested Jeff might have tripped, or there was an altercation involving a rock, admitting to seeing a gash on Jeff’s forehead (34:39, 35:04).

    "Threw a rock at him? Maybe? ... If it hit him in the body and then he tripped and fell. ... How big of an injury? I think it was split wide open." — David Cucinelli (34:39–35:04)

  • But David denied striking Jeff intentionally or knowing whether Jeff was alive before the van was submerged.

    "If he was breathing, I wouldn't have put him in the canal. ... If I thought there was [a chance to save him], I would have." — David Cucinelli (35:38–35:52)

Resolution, Legal Limbo, and Family Aftermath

• Legal Obstacles

  • Despite the apparent admissions, the statute of limitations on manslaughter (only three years in 1977) had expired; there was insufficient evidence for homicide or concealment charges (41:54).

    “You have to apply the law that existed in 1977.” — Assistant State’s Attorney Sherri Tate Jenkins (41:54)

  • No charges were ever filed.

    “They'll never pay for the crime. Which is frustrating to the police department, frustrating for the Klee family.” — Detective Bob Vernon (42:28)

• Emotional Closure and Reflection

  • The Klee family felt some sense of closure in knowing the truth but remained frustrated by the lack of accountability.

    "It's over with... Are they going to go get justice? They probably won't. But they have to live with themselves. As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the story." — Flossy Klee (43:47)

  • The family retrieved keepsakes, including Jeff’s dive card and scraps of his favorite shirt, as his van was towed away for good (43:09–43:27).
  • Flossy’s final words expressed a weary acceptance and hope that living with the truth would be its own form of justice.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It was just like the earth just opened up and swallowed him." — Flossy Klee (03:32)
• "I chased every black van in Broward County. ... I never changed my phone number, thinking that if something did happen to him, he'd know the phone number." — Flossy Klee (13:55, 14:14)
• "All these years we have driven over that bridge..." — Flossy Klee (20:41)
• "Maybe it was an accident, but why did they have to cover it up? ... So there's always going to be a question in all of our minds." — Flossy Klee (37:45)
• "We are burdened by knowing that someone who we believe put our brother in his van and pushed him into the canal will not be held legally accountable." — Flossy Klee (42:36)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Jeff Klee’s Disappearance and Family Initial Reactions: 01:56–04:43
• Rumors of Jeff’s Fate & Early Investigative Dead Ends: 10:31–12:59
• Detective Vernon Takes Over; Suspects Scott Rango: 12:59–17:34
• Discovery of Van and Remains: 19:04–20:41
• Dana Holmes’ Confession Statement: 21:40–24:13
• Interviews with David and Carl Cucinelli: 28:22–36:11
• No Charges—Legal Explanation: 40:04–42:28
• Emotional Closure for Klee Family: 43:04–43:47

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Conclusion

This powerful episode reveals the emotional and investigative complexity of a cold case that spanned more than three decades. The mystery of Jeff Klee’s disappearance was finally resolved, but the lack of legal closure highlights both the evolution and the limitations of justice. The Klee family's pain and perseverance are palpable, making "Secrets in the Canal" not just a tale about a singular crime, but about the lasting impact of unanswered questions and the quest for truth.

Transcript

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[Flossy Klee]

I like that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was always hot. We always hung out in street corners, went to the beach, dyed her hair blonde. We also partied a lot.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Kids partying, kids over at the park, kids with beer in the car. I mean, there wasn't very much going on here in 77. We didn't have a lot of violent crimes. I'm Bob Vernon. I'm a retired Coral Springs police detective. I worked on the Jeff Klee case.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He was really tall and handsome, funny and smart, warm and kind.

[Flossy Klee]

And he would do anything for anybody.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I am Ginny Healy. In 1977, I dated Jeff Klee.

[Flossy Klee]

He was the firstborn. He got along with most everybody. I'm Flossy Clee. And I'm Jeff Klee's mother. Jeff disappeared on June 21, 1977. It was on a Monday night. He went to the Crown Lounge with a a group of friends. They apparently left about 2 o' clock in the morning.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

It was an average Joe kind of bar where everybody kind of hung out.

[Flossy Klee]

When we woke up the next morning, Jeff wasn't in his bedroom. Jeff's band wasn't there. We called around and we couldn't locate him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Was that unusual?

[Flossy Klee]

Yeah, he'd never done it before. And so we called and reported it to the police and they said, well, you know, he's 18 and you know, he probably just took off. When your child goes missing like that, you don't know how could this happen?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I Wonder where he is. I hope he's well. Well, he has a special place in my heart. He always has.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

A lot of people overlook the case because it was just another kid who didn't come home and he's off someplace. El.

[Flossy Klee]

It was just like the earth just opened up and swallowed him.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Somewhere in between the Crown Lounge and his house, something happened that took 31 years for the case to be solved.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Deep secret.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Back in the 70s, how were you treated as a mom?

[Flossy Klee]

Well, they ignored me. They said I was hysterical.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When Flossy clee reported her 18 year old son Jeff missing on a June day in 1977, she was frustrated that police didn't take her seriously.

[Flossy Klee]

I said, well, when was I hysterical? Because I never screamed or hollered or cried or any of that. I mean, I was just concerned, where is my son? He isn't home. What are you going to do about it?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They didn't do much.

[Flossy Klee]

They said, well, you know, he's 18 and we can't really do anything. You just sort of have to wait. He'll come up, he'll show up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Even if police had begun assessment search, it wasn't so easy to track down a missing teen back in the late 1970s. There weren't surveillance cameras like this everywhere as there are now. No ATMs on every corner, cell phones, electronic tolls, or vast computer networks. It wasn't so difficult to virtually disappear back in the 1970s. Drinking laws were more lax too. It was perfectly legal in Florida for 18 year olds to drink at bars. Nickel Beer Night at the Crown Lounge was a big hit with Jeff Klee and his friends.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Jeff was, he was a lot of fun. He was a partymaker.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Alan Carpenter was one of those close friends.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

He just enjoyed having a good time.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Ginny Healy was Jeff's girlfriend. He was strong and I thought he was handsome like a man's man. Did I meet. Even at 18, it's like he knew who he was. You loved him? Mm, absolutely.

[Flossy Klee]

Here's his birthday.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As the oldest of four children, Jeff was also close to his mother and three younger sisters. Dee Dee was 11. And I remember sitting in the front yard for hours because I was waiting for him to come home. And she's like, okay, you know, it's time to come in, Dee Dee. I'm like, but he's not home yet. Cindy, now a Coral springs cop, was 15.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

He'd give you the shirt off his back to anybody, even his sisters, believe.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It or not, Laurel, only a year younger, than Jeff was closest to him. She hung out with him and his friends, especially his best friend, David Cucinelli.

[Flossy Klee]

They did everything together. He was like a big brother to me. He and Jeff, they were just almost inseparable.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Both David and Alan worked for Jeff's dad, Bucky, who ran a landscaping business. Bucky had a commanding presence and expected his son to someday run the company.

[Flossy Klee]

My husband had given him half of the business and he had a brand new van.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did he like working in his father's business? Was that something he enjoyed doing? I think he did, but I also think that he. He'd get a little resentful only because he worked so much. How did your husband deal with Jeff's disappearance? How would you describe what he was going through? This was.

[Flossy Klee]

This was his boy, you know, and it left a big void with him in his life, I think.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Do you remember the last time you saw Jeff?

[Flossy Klee]

Mm. Yep. He was in my family room and he was going out and I could see him and we were all laughing in the family room doing something. And I remember him saying to me, mom, I love you. And that was the last time I remember that. Jeff, from what I understand, left the Crown Lounge and then he went to take David Cuccinelli home and never returned home himself.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What I recall is Cucinelli telling me that Jeff had disappeared and his mother was looking for him. And have you seen him? And I said no, and I haven't heard from him. So what did you think? He always mentioned when he'd go off daydreaming that he would move to California. And I thought he went.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

A lot of people thought Jeff, you know, went off on his own. Find a place down in the Keys. He had a scuba license. He loved the water.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As time wore on, there was still no sign of Jeff. As part of procedure, police took a closer look at his family and learned that Bucky Clee was a gambler.

[Flossy Klee]

My husband knew a lot, and not all of them were wonderful people.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Little shady.

[Flossy Klee]

Yeah, kind of. And Bucky did like to gamble. He knew bookies.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Any possibility of your husband having a debt that could have something to do with your son's disappearance? No. The police also learned that the Clees had taken out a $100,000 life insurance policy on Jeff. And wasn't that a pretty large insurance policy on an 18 year old?

[Flossy Klee]

Well, probably. My girls also had large policies on them too. And this was just something we did.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Flossy refused to believe her son was dead.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

The first year. She brought a ton of Christmas presents. For him. And I'm sitting there kind of like looking at. He's not here. Well, he'll have something to open up when he comes out in, you know, through the front door.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jeff's sisters began to wonder if the friend who last saw their brother might be hiding something. He had stopped working for their father right after Jeff disappeared. Did you continue to see David Cucinelli?

[Flossy Klee]

I did from time to time, but I really thought that he knew something, but I didn't know what.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Did you ever ask David, like, what happened to my brother?

[Flossy Klee]

Yes, I asked him, and he just said he didn't know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But if David seemed reluctant to talk, someone else they knew was not. In 1981, four years after Jeff disappeared, suddenly there was news, and a friend of his is saying, Jeff's alive.

[Flossy Klee]

Yeah. And he asked me not to say anything to anybody because if they ever find Jeff, Jeff would be in trouble. The three little ones.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Little. And who's all his?

[Flossy Klee]

That's me, and that's Cindy and Jeff.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He's got his arm around both of you. Old, faded photographs are all Laurel Klee has left of the older brother who vanished in June of 1977. She heard nothing until four years later, when, by chance, she ran into someone she knew from high school.

[Flossy Klee]

It was just a bizarre conversation.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Michael Collister told Laurel that Jeff was alive but in hiding, living under an alias after a drug deal went bad. Mike Holster is telling you that when Jeff disappeared in 1977, he had actually gone somewhere, changed his name, and was on the run. Yes, but he refused to tell Laurel where.

[Flossy Klee]

He said that he had a nice girl, they were living somewhere, and he was set for life. It didn't sound like Jeff, but I. You know, I didn't know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Laurel, who had first kept quiet, later confided in her mother.

[Flossy Klee]

I just didn't believe this. I said, lori, this is just not something Jeff would do.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When investigators eventually tracked down Collister, he denied telling Laurel that her brother was alive.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

If I had a conversation with her about Jeff, it was only to try to ease her pain to some degree in time.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

A dead end, says detective Bob Vernon.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I discounted it right from the start.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Vernon took charge of Jeff Klee's case in 1982, five years after he went missing. Vernon was shocked by how thin the case file was. Did Jeff Klee's disappearance kind of fall through the cracks?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Yes. It was listed as missing person on the face sheet. It was basically an empty folder.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Vernon wondered how Jeff and his van could simply disappear without a trace.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

It never showed up in five years. I mean, not in a chop shop. The license plate didn't show up. It didn't end up on some used car lot.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

His gut told him that Jeff was dead. And back in 1977, when Coral Springs was an undeveloped maze of canals and levees, there were plenty of places to dump bodies and vans.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

There was a lot of empty fields. I mean, there was a lot of possibilities.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

While Detective Vernon was beginning his search, Jeff Klee's mom, Flossie, had never stopped hers.

[Flossy Klee]

I think I chased every black van in Broward County. I hate to admit it. I went to at least five different psychics trying to find out. I would just come away shaking my head, thinking, that's not him. They don't know him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Through all the false leads, Flossie held out hope.

[Flossy Klee]

I never changed my phone number, thinking that if something did happen to him, he'd know the phone number.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Like Jeff's family, Detective Vernon thought that Jeff's friends had to know more than they were saying.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Jeff Klee had been out with friends. They'd been drinking here at the Crown Lounge.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

According to police reports, the last friend to see Jeff was David Cucinelli. So Vernon began dropping by his workplace.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

After half a dozen or more visits, the same questions come up. Can you think about anything else? Do you remember anything else?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That night, David told Vernon what he told police in 1977. That Jeff dropped him and his brother Carl off at their house at around 2am they never saw or heard from Jeff again. Vernon felt the best clue to the mystery was something Jeff's sister Laurel had mentioned offhandedly.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

She said, a few years ago, I got a letter from Attica State Prison.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The letter, Laurel says, came from a New York State Police prison official who stated that an inmate wanted to write to her. An inmate by the name of Scott rango.

[Flossy Klee]

I was 17. My mom asked me if I knew him, and I said, no, I don't know who it is.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why did he want to write you? I had no idea Scott Rango was serving a life sentence for murder.

[Flossy Klee]

I just didn't want my daughter involved with that. And so that was the end of that.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

How would he get the address to write to the Klee family?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What were you thinking at that particular point?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I tell you, I just, you know, it was like pulling on a string. I'm going to pull wherever I can to see whatever it is and, you know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Rango had robbed and killed a psychiatrist in New York and was a suspect in as many as 17 other crimes. Many violent.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

He would meet people out, become friends, drink stuff like that, later rob them or try to kill them.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

More significantly, back in 1977, Rango was here, living in Florida in the Coral Springs area, and he just happened to wash dishes at a restaurant near the Crown Lounge, the same club where Jeff hung out with his friends on the night he disappeared. And how close is the restaurant where Scott Rangel worked?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Right across the street, I would say probably 500 yards.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That one right there on the corner.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

That was known as the Clock Restaurant. Then I put the pieces together. I'm thinking, well, you know, he comes across the street, he meets Jeff. He asks for a ride home. I was thinking, he's probably killed him. Took his van at that time and went to New York.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Vernon was sure he was onto something, but it was too late to talk to Scott Rango himself. Shortly after Rango reached out to Laurel Klee, he hanged himself in his cell. Was the case pretty much, though, closed, believing that Scott Rango was the one who killed Jeff Klee?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

In my mind, yes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was nearly nine years after Jeff Klee went missing, and at the insistence of the insurance company, the Clees finally asked to have him declared dead.

[Flossy Klee]

I said, I can't do it. I don't want to do it. You know, he might walk through that door tomorrow.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Detective Vernon testified how he believed Jeff Klee died at the hands of Scott Rango, and the judge made it official.

[Flossy Klee]

Tough, Tough having to walk away from that judge's chambers in silence, not talking about it on the way.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Yeah, none of us talked. We just walked out real quiet. I would go to my grave believing that Scott Rango was responsible for the disappearance of Jeff Kleet.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But today you feel differently, don't you?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I feel entirely different, yes. Absolutely. I was wrong.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Totally.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Totally.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Three decades after Jeff Klee disappeared, Coral Springs is a thriving community. Busy bridges now span the city's canals. Was any of this here back then, like any of these homes?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

No, this was. These were cow fields back here. And this bridge wasn't built until 1989.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The Klee case had been passed to Detective Dave Weissman, only five years old in 1977.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I wanted to give the Clees more answers.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He was reviewing the case in March 2008 when he heard his colleagues were dredging the C14 canal.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

There were stolen vehicles, possibly involved in insurance fraud.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They fished out more than 30 vehicles here. And then a discovery no one expected. Remnants of a black van that had been submerged for a very long time.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

When they put the van down on the concrete, it actually fell apart. So it had to be in a canal for several, several years because it totally deteriorated once it hit the ground. His scuba license floated to the top of the canal and license plate was still on the van.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

One by one, clues to a 30 year mystery emerged.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

We found eight track tapes.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We found cologne, a comb, and Jeff Klee's bones. His mother's agonizing search had come to an end.

[Flossy Klee]

I was just so astonished. I really was. I just, I had to go by and see the van.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jeff had never been far from home.

[Flossy Klee]

It's incredible to think that probably about three and a half, four miles from our house, this is where my son's resting place was. And how many times have I driven over that bridge after it was made? How many times have all of us driven over that bridge?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Jeff's father, Bucky, died in 2004, never knowing what happened to his only son. They found the van on my dad's birthday. You think that's coincidence? I said it was a gift from daddy. What was your reaction when this was actually pulled up? What do you think? Even when you look at this now.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I just can't believe that Jeff was stuck in this van for 31 years. It's just hard to believe.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The timing was uncanny because the van wasn't the only new evidence to surface. Remarkably, just two weeks earlier, the police heard from a new witness swear to.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. So have you got it?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Hey, sir. Dana Holmes, who was only one year old when Jeff Klee went missing, came to police out of the blue to report an event that happened in the year 2000. Back then, she met a man at a Coral Springs bar. He was drinking very much.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

He was wasted.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She and the man ended up alone that night. He was coming on to me and I said, whoa, whoa, whoa. Instead of getting intimate, she says they shared secrets. He started crying and he explained that he killed his best friend. His words and my heart dropped. And then he continued to say, but it was an accident. Danna was very disturbed by the story, but she was married to another man at the time, so she kept the story to herself. I figured, well, who am I going to tell?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

What am I going to do?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Call Coral Springs PD and say, oh, this guy I met one night, he.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Told me he killed his best friend.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I don't know his best friend. I mean, it's one heck of a story. I didn't know if anyone would believe that. As Dana went on with her life, she says she buried the memory of that night until seven years later, in 2007, when her memory got a jolt. She was in a bar again. This time, she overheard a woman telling a chilling story about her missing brother. That woman was Coral Springs police Sergeant Cindy Clee. Her brother had disappeared 30 years earlier. She strongly believed that her brother's best friend had something to do with it. And I listened, and I thought, oh, my God. I know this story. Did you say something to Cindy?

[Flossy Klee]

No, I didn't.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I didn't do anything. And it did work on me. What do you mean, worked on you? Because now the victim had a name. It was six months after that, in March 2008, when Dana Holmes finally went to the police. He was very emotional, and he was very, very detailed. And he said it was about when he was 17 or 18. And she gave them a sworn, taped statement. He said that him and his best.

[Flossy Klee]

Friend were fighting and there was some.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Type of girl involved.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He said that he accidentally had killed.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Him and that he had a body and he didn't want to go to the cops.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Danna knew the man only by his first name, Dave. But when shown a photo lineup. That is David. She picked out David Cusinelli, Jeff Klee's high school friend. That's him. That's the man that told me he.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Killed his best friend.

[Flossy Klee]

It was just like God said, okay, we've had enough of this. Let's get this thing settled once and for all.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Detective Weissman was now convinced that David was responsible for Jeff's death. How do you know he didn't just kind of get lost and drive into the canal?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

That wouldn't be possible. There were no roads back then. There wasn't a bridge. And when we found the van, it was found in neutral, which raised our suspicions that someone had pushed the van into that canal.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Dana Holmes continued to remember details of the story David Cucinelli told her eight years earlier there was something that had.

[Flossy Klee]

To do with a rock.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This time she was under hypnosis.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

It's an investigative tool. That's all it is. It's not admissible in court. I don't know if he fell.

[Flossy Klee]

And hit his head on a rock or he hit him in the head with a rock.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I know that he killed him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Weissman also interviewed Ginny Healy Spence, Jeff's high school girlfriend, who revealed to police for the first time that she had cheated on Jeff. You had spent some time with David Cucinelli? Yeah. Yeah, on his birthday. On David's birthday, yeah. And how did Jeff react? Well, he was pretty mad. So we broke up.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

There's our motive, Jeff. That gave Jeff the reason to confront David.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You feel responsible? In some ways, yes. David was still in the area. He had never married. But making a case against him was not going to be easy. Nothing in Jeff's van or the condition of his body answered the biggest question. How did he die?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

We may have the why now, but how?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It was time for the detectives to confront David Cusinelli. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail] I'm Investigator Slater, host of the Cyclopedia True crime podcast. Spooky season is officially here, and for the entire month of October, we are transforming into Spookopedia. All episodes, including bonus content, will delve into true crime with a dark twist, blending the spooky, creepy, gory, and the haunted. No matter the story we cover, by.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

The end of each episode, you are.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Going to feel it. Make sure to follow and listen to Cyclopedia everywhere you get your podcasts.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Ford was built on the belief that the world doesn't get to decide what you're capable of. You do. So ask yourself, can you or can't you? Can you load up a Ford F150 and build your dream with sweat and steel? Can you chase thrills and conquer curves in a Mustang? Can you take a Bronco to where the map ends and adventure begins? Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. Ready, Set. Forward.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Four months after Jeff Klee's body was found, yet another surprising development. The man police assembled of pushing Jeff and his van into the C14 canal agrees to talk to Detective David Weissman.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Nobody thought he would come in. And then we got the call that there was somebody down in the lobby. All the investigators were stunned. Hey, Dave, how are you?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

David Cucinelli, now 50, arrives without an attorney.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

It was extremely important.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Why?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

There was no physical evidence and we needed David's confession.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But if David knows what happened to Jeff, he's not telling the team of detectives who question him.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

So tell me about that night. Do you remember what time you left? It had to be. Well, what time did you arrive? And who drove and just Set up? Well, Jeff drove me and my brother Carl went with him, dropped me and my brother off at my parents house and I said that was it.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's the same story he has always told, except for one crucial difference. For the very first time, David admits that he and Jeff had argued that night about Jenny, Jeff's girlfriend.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

He was upset. David admitted that Jeff was upset because he had found out that Jenny and him slept together. Were you scared Jeff was gonna hurt you that night when he found out about it?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

No. While police continue to press David in one room, what David doesn't know is that in another room his older brother Carl, who also agreed to talk, is being interrogated. Police are hoping to find inconsistencies in the brothers stories.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

When you went down to the Crown Lounge that night, how did you get down there? Jeff drove.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

David is confronted with Dana Holmes statement that he had confessed to her that he had killed his best friend.

[Flossy Klee]

Rock. There was something that had to do with a rock.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Why would she say something like that? I have no idea. And I never told her anything. I never told her that I killed Jeff Klay. I did not hit him with no rock. I did nothing like that.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

David sticks to his story even as he has egged on for hours.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Because, you know, accidents do happen. I understand that, but I don't know what happened to him. He dropped me off at my parents house and drove away.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Were you nervous questioning him?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I was. I was a little nervous.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Finally, both brothers began to waver on whether Carl had really been at the Crown Lounge the night Jeff disappeared.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I thought he was in the van. Maybe it was another night. He was in the van. Well, where were you? I don't remember. I thought I went to the bar with the two of them and that was it. So that's when we went in the room and I spoke with Carl. This is a Detective Wiseman, he's been speaking to your brother.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

After three and a half hours, Carl appears to break.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I asked him if there was any malicious intent with Jeff's disappearance. An accident is an accident. Okay, as long as you can tell me that there was no malicious intent, then I'll be fine with that. I really will be. There was no malicious intent.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Thank you.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

And at that point I can see that we were getting somewhere. David called me up and told me that there was a problem. I guess I went out and met him. I must have helped him dispose of the vehicle. I helped him push it in.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Carl does not give any details and he insists he never saw Jeff's body. In the van.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Okay, well, what did he tell you happened to Jeff? I don't know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

You know, vaguely come up with pushing the van into the canal. And I'm not even. I wouldn't swear up and down that Carl. I don't. I can't think of anything else.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When police push him for more.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Come on. I'm not gonna make something up. I don't know.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Carl suddenly ends the interview.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Do I need to get a lawyer at this point? Is that where we're at? Are you requesting a lawyer? I can't give you guys the answers you want, Helm.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But Carl has given the cops the ammunition they need to press David.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Please. Real important that you see this.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

They show David portions of his brother's interview.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

David called me up and told me that there was a problem. I guess I went out and met him. I must have helped him dispose of the vehicle. He goes into more detail what the hell he's talking about. When we brought the video in the actual room of Carl confessing, David started to freak out a little bit. I did not do it. David, by your brother's only mission, he helped you. No frigging way. No frigging way. You saw it. I. No way. That's your blood. I understand it. No, I. That's your blood. I did not kill Jeff. I did not.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Then David changes his story. He begins to tell police how Jeff might have gotten hurt.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I said the only thing that could have happened is he was chasing me around the van. He tripped, fell, and hit his head.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In your mind, he really finally broke when he saw Carl?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I believe so. Absolutely. Seeing his own brother confessing to something, they probably were gonna keep a secret amongst themselves their entire lives. What's the possibility that you grabbed something and threw it at him?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Hmm.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Does that sound. Threw a rock at him? Maybe? Yeah. Does that seem more reasonable? It's possible, but I don't know if that rock hit him in the head. No, I don't. Or did he trip and fall? I don't know if the rock hit him in the head or if it caused him to trip and fall. If it hit him in the body and then he tripped and fell. Where did you see an injury? Forehead, I would think was on his forehead. How big of an injury? I think it was split wide open.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The detectives finally feel they're getting somewhere as David begins to reluctantly talk about that night. But David is never clear about how Jeff died or how he and Carl put the van in the water.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Did he jump back in the van with you and Go down there or did you? He would have followed you because it's kind of a long. He would have followed me in his car.

[Flossy Klee]

It's hard to watch him talk about our brother like it was just his life. Didn't matter.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We showed Jeff Klee's mother and sisters some of David's taped interview.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

If he was breathing, I wouldn't have put him in the canal. Okay. No way. All right. Did you think that there was a chance that he could have been brought to a hospital? If I thought there was, I would have.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Do you think it's possible that Jeff wasn't dead when he was put in the canal?

[Flossy Klee]

That was one of the first questions I had. How did they know he was dead? He could have been unconscious, totally unconscious, and then drowned. These are two guys. I mean, they aren't paramedics, right?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I thought it was a bad dream. So when I woke up the next morning, I was like, nah, no way did that happen. No way.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Would you actually describe what David said as a confession?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I believe so. Oh, God. What did I do?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

More than nine and a half hours after he arrived.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Oh, my God.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

David goes home. Why wasn't he arrested?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

We wanted to review the case with the state attorney, make sure we. We had all our ducks in a row.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What were you hoping he could be charged with?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Homicide.

[Flossy Klee]

He was a good looking fella and he loved to be dressed nicely.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Do you remember what Jeff was wearing when he disappeared?

[Flossy Klee]

I remember he had this shirt on with little tiny roses. I don't remember any roses. They were little tiny ones like this. And it was. He really did like that shirt.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Okay, Ma.

[Flossy Klee]

We do miss him. We do miss him and what he could have been.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I think it's not just losing a son and brother that is so difficult for Flossy Clee and her daughters. They are still reeling from learning that Jeff's best friend may be responsible.

[Flossy Klee]

Maybe it was an accident, but why did they have to cover it up? Then we might never know. So there's always going to be a question in all of our minds.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What do you think of David Cucinelli today?

[Flossy Klee]

I think that he and his brother both are cowards.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

They knew where Jeff was for 31.

[Flossy Klee]

Years and they chose to remain silent.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Immediately after David and his brother Carl gave their taped statements to police, they hired an attorney, Mitch Pillay. The Cucinellis wouldn't talk with us, but their lawyer did. The police call David Cucinelli's statement a confession. Do you agree with that?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What do you call it?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I call it something that's coerced? I call it something that's manufactured. Now, do you recall him chasing you?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Pelay says police fed David information and pressured him into admitting he was there the night Jeff died.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

These pieces of the story don't initially come from David here.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

This does not come from the police. When he says, do you see an injury on the forehead?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Where did you see an injury? Forehead.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That came from David. David is the one who said it was split wide open.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

How big of an injury? I think it was split wide open.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

David is the one who says it's a couple of inches of a gash.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

How long do you think the gash was? 2, 3, 6 inches? His whole forehead? I would say maybe a couple inches.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

That wasn't fed by the police. That sounds like real details, doesn't it?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

But you have to take a step back before he answered that way with some specificity. Who brought up the fact that he tripped and fell first? It was the police. I don't have it right here at the top of my head.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And Carl, his attorney says got the same treatment every time.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

He would say, I didn't have any type of involvement, I don't remember. The police would say, that's not a good enough answer for us. That's not good enough. We could help you along.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And you're saying that neither David Cucinelli or Carl Cucumbers Cucinelli had anything to do with it?

[Detective Bob Vernon]

I'm not saying that they didn't have anything to do with it. I'm saying that they both denied having anything to do with it. And I don't think that these so called confessions confirm anything.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The Clees hoped a criminal court would settle the matter. But then a development that no expected today. What charges are pending against David Cuccinelli or Carl Cucinelli?

[Flossy Klee]

No charges are pending against them.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You heard it. The Cuccinelli brothers will face no charges at all. Assistant State's Attorney Sherri Tate Jenkins.

[Flossy Klee]

We don't have any evidence to suggest homicide because it could have been accidental.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

There is simply not enough evidence to prove premeditated murder. She says the main problem is that no one can even say how Jeff died. His skeletal remains, meticulously examined, reveal nothing. You can't tell whether he drowned?

[Flossy Klee]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You can't tell whether he was stabbed?

[Flossy Klee]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Or shot?

[Flossy Klee]

No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Or even hit in the head with a rock?

[Flossy Klee]

No. No.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

But what about Dana Holmes? Didn't she say David confessed to her?

[Flossy Klee]

If you took that alleged statement as factual, that indicated an accidental death and.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Really gave no details whatsoever of that. As for David's own admissions, I don't.

[Flossy Klee]

Think I could describe it as a confession.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He doesn't say definitively I hit him.

[Flossy Klee]

In fact, he many times. Stress is the opposite.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

What about Carl Cucinelli? Would you describe his statement as a confession?

[Flossy Klee]

He places himself there only to help his brother do something with the van. He claims no knowledge of Jeff Klee being there.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

If it was an accident. What about manslaughter charges against the brothers? Well, that's out too.

[Flossy Klee]

You have to apply the law that existed in 1977.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The law in Florida has since changed. But back in 1977, there was only a three year statute of limitations on manslaughter. Meaning that the state could only bring charges three years after a death. Obviously, by 2008, the clock had long run out. Not only on manslaughter, but on lesser charges, like concealing a body. But no one even knew Jeff Klee was dead. No, no.

[Flossy Klee]

But that was the law at the time. In 1977.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

They'll never pay for the crime. Which is frustrating to the police department, frustrating for the Klee family.

[Flossy Klee]

We are burdened by knowing that someone who we believe put our brother in his van and pushed him into the canal will not be held legally accountable.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

With no case pending, Jeff's belongings are returned to the.

[Flossy Klee]

There were a few things that my family decided to keep, but they're strictly for their own personal remembrances. This is his dive card. This is what floated to the top.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The hair.

[Flossy Klee]

Proof positive who it was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Flossie finds a tiny threadbare piece of cloth with a faint but familiar pattern. It's the shirt she has remembered all these years.

[Flossy Klee]

See, here's the rose right here.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

She allows the remnants of Jeff's van to be towed away and junked. In 1977, Jeff Klee left in that vehicle intending to spend a night out. But with his friends. His family feels he has finally come home.

[Flossy Klee]

It's over with. We know the people involved. Are they going to go get justice? They probably won't. But they have to live with themselves. As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the story.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Now streaming on Paramount. Plus, someone is trying to frame us until our names are clear.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We're fugitives from Interval.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Espionage.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

You still as good as shot as he used to be?

[Flossy Klee]

Better.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Is there love language? We like to walk that fine line between techno thriller and romantic comedy.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

We make up our own rules.

[Detective Bob Vernon]

Ncis Tony and Ziva. Now streaming on Paramount plus this October Pluto TV has all the scares, all for free with fan favorite horror movies like Paranormal Activity, the ring, scream and 28 days later. Pluto TV stream now pay Never.