LEESBURG, Fla. — Two people were charged in connection to the death of a missing 84-year-old Leesburg woman, the Leesburg Police Department announced Saturday morning during a news conference.
David Mariotti, 34, of Fruitland Park, and Tracie Jo Naffziger, 40, of Wildwood, were charged in the death of Bernadine Montgomery, Leesburg police Lt. Joe Iozzi said.
Montgomery disappeared from her Palmora Boulevard home June 15. Her car was found at Lake Harris. Dive crews searched the lake, but nothing was found.
“From the beginning of this case, detectives have been working diligently, around the clock, to solve this crime and provide some level of closure for the family, friends, and neighbors of Ms. Montgomery,” he said. “While we’re pleased to have both suspects currently in custody and to be filing charges on them, we remain on task to recover the remains of Ms. Montgomery and detectives are currently doing so in the Palatka area.”
%
%
The U.S. Marshal’s Task Force, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the sheriff’s offices in Lake, Marion, Putnam, Gilchrist and Alachua counties assisted LPD with its investigation.
Investigators declined to comment on how Montgomery was killed.
Mariotti and Naffziger were booked into the Lake County Detention Center on second-degree murder charges.
Previous story: Person of interest in Leesburg woman's disappearance arrested after brief standoff