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Published on Sunday, July 14, 2002
in the Bradenton Herald
BRADENTON - Only four months ago, Penny Rodriguez got the call that every parent fears. A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was on the line to tell her that her 49-year-old stepson, Michael Norman Rodriguez, was dead - the victim of a hit and run.
"The pain is still there. I don't think it ever totally goes away," she said.
But during what seemed like the darkest days, a group of strangers emerged like a ray of hope, she said.
The group, Manatee County's Gold Star Club, offers reward money for information on unsolved murders.
"I was just amazed. I couldn't believe that somebody would do that for us," Penny Rodriguez said. "My first thought was, 'Who are these people?' "
They are 45 couples - ranging from business owners to mayors to doctors and civil servants - who devote their time and efforts to raising reward money for information that will help law enforcement solve murders and major crimes against children. The group's five-member board is led by Manatee Crime Stoppers executive director and former trooper Ron Getman.
The club offers high-dollar rewards for information that leads police to the arrest and conviction of the person who committed the crime. All tipsters remain anonymous.
"Most people forget that the families are victims, too," Getman said.
Michael Rodriguez was riding his bicycle south in the 2500 block of 15th Street East about 1:30 a.m. March 2 when a vehicle struck him, state troopers reported. He landed on the vehicle's hood, possibly hitting the windshield before landing in a grassy area. The vehicle's driver headed south on 15th Street East and never looked back, authorities said.
But Getman said with the eyes and ears of the community, Rodriguez's death, along with more than 30 others, will be solved some day with the thousands of dollars of reward money raised.
"It's similar to hurricane preparedness. You hope you never have to use it, but you want to be ready," Getman said. "Just in case something horrible happens - like a murder or if a child is kidnapped or raped or seriously hurt - we have a mechanism where we can accept large sums of reward money and put it on the table."
Since the club was established, it has collected funds through private donations and through an annual event called Caribbean Night. This year's event, which is sold out, is scheduled for July 20 at the Bradenton City Centre.
The Gold Star Club was born in the spring 2000 after members of the community tried to donate money in response to the murders of Sherry Brannon and her two young daughters. People were willing to give reward money so the killer would be caught, but Sheriff Charlie Wells couldn't accept the donations.
"It gives us a little more leverage and firepower," Wells said. "Money is a great motivator and I'm sure we'll see a point when we have a major case that in which this will be the deciding factor in solving the case."
So far, the club has paid out a reward for information in one case, the March 1999 rock-throwing murder of an Alabama professor.
Julie Laible drove under the Erie Road overpass on Interstate 75 just after midnight when a teenager hurled a boulder from above and the 30-pound chunk of concrete smashed her windshield, struck her in the face and killed her.
"I think the family was really grateful for it and I'm sure it contributed to finding the people who did this," said the victim's father, Lynn Laible.
There were no suspects, no motives and no answers for Laible's family - until a call came in to Crime Stoppers with a tip that led to the arrests of three area men suspected of playing a part in the woman's death. All three were arrested, convicted and sentenced; an anonymous tipster was awarded a $5,000 check from the club.
"There's no way to tell how many times it's going to work, but when it does, it's great," Wells said.