Broward Man Indicted For 1994 Murder Of Ex-Wife
MIAMI (CBS4) - The Miami-Dade Grand Jury handed down an indictment Wednesday against a Lighthouse Point man long suspected of murdering his ex-wife nearly 18 years ago.
Clifford Friend, 56, was arrested shortly after the indictment. Prosecutors say he is involved in the disappearance of Lynne Friend, 35. Her body has never been recovered.
Lynne Friend vanished on August 28, 1994 shortly after winning full custody of their five-year-old son Christian in a contentious battle with Clifford. According to records and witnesses, Lynne had planned to relocate with their son out of the state to live with her new fiancée, a move which Clifford reportedly objected to.
According to CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald, on the night she disappeared, Lynne Friend was on the phone with her fiancée, but hung up with him after another call from her ex-husband came in. He reportedly wanted her to drive to Pembroke Pines to pick up a child support check. She was never heard from again.
After a long investigation, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office says they uncovered evidence that an hour after taking the call from Clifford Friend, he and an male friend were seen dropping a large package from a boat off Government Cut.
"Since 1994, the investigation of this crime has been an ongoing police priority. With the passage of time, my prosecutors and these dedicated law enforcement officers have been able to develop the additional evidence which allowed us to bring this case before the Grand Jury," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "I thank our law enforcement partners, my staff at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Hallandale Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their dedication to the cause of finding Lynn Friend's killer. The long, long investigative process has finally come to an end."
According to the paper, Clifford Friend remarried in 1995 and now owns and pawn shop and home in Lighthouse Point.
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