On March 13, 1997, 71-year-old Olga Dolores Parlante, mother of nine, was found beaten and strangled with a gash in her throat and gag inher mouth in her Ft. Lauderdale apartment. There was no sign of sexual assault. Only a couple of inexpensive items and a paltry sum of money was taken from the apartment.

Mrs. Parlante had been preparing to go to bingo that evening and had last spoken to someone at 10 pm. Usually she would call a cab to take her to late night bingo that began at midnight but that evening no cab was called and she never made it to bingo.

Someone took the opportunity in the late evening hours to brutally assault Mrs. Parlante for relatively little gain. This crime was either a burglary gone bad or some other situation gone bad with a burglary staged to cover the true reason for the homicide. If it was a burglary, it was committed by someone without great skill and with a clear lack of control.

The offender exhibited poor planning, poor preparation and poor control of the offense. We believe that this person would most likely have a criminal record, a drug or alcohol problem and would have committed this crime for temporary personal gain – some shortsighted need for a few bucks, drugs, or items that caught his/her interest. If it was a homicide committed for another reason and a staged burglary, then most likely some confrontation ensued that was unexpected, Mrs. Parlante was murdered, and the scene made to look like a burglar had committed the crime.

At this point, this is only speculation because without crime scene photos, a proper crime scene analysis cannot be done. In this particular case, a thorough analysis of the crime scene may prove extremely helpful in determining the behaviors of the offender during the crime and help focus the investigation on one of the two prime suspects. One is a burglar with a criminal record and a history of alcohol abuse who lived in the same building and left the area after the crime. The other is a relative of Mrs. Parlante who was using and dealing drugs and had close contact with the victim and may have been involved with this crime alone or with another person. Although the detective on the case at the Broward Sheriff’s Department initially told the family he would have no problem with the SHE profiling team looking at the case, this opportunity has been put on hold. The family was informed on March 13, 2001, the day of the Memorial in Mrs. Parlante’s honor, that the case was being forwarded to the FBI for the purpose of profiling. Until now, there has been no further information offered as to the completion of the FBI profile or of any new investigative avenues being explored in this unsolved homicide case.

Click here for the memorial created for Olga by her children

PLEASE!!! If you know anything about this case - DO NOT HESITATE to contact the SHE tipline