Crime

Merle Mackey, has been arrested by authorities for the murder of his wife Evelyn nearly 35 years ago. He is currently being held without bond in Levy County while he awaits trial. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office reached out to the TNT television show, Cold Justice, who ultimately agreed to help out in February 2015. On May 1st, Episode 12 “A Trip to Nowhere” was aired, based on the missing persons case of Evelyn Mackey.

At 9:25 p.m. last night, (10/27/15), 911 dispatchers began receiving numerous calls reporting a supposed threat made on social media of a possible school shooting that was to occur today.

The report from the police department is as follows,

"Deputies immediately began investigating the origin of the threat.
There was a similar threat made by a student on Monday at Weeki Wachee High School.

The incident was investigated and it was determined that the student made the comment out of anger with no intention or ability to carry out the threat.

On October 20, 2015 Hernando County deputies arrested a Fifth Grade teacher from Explorer K-8 School in Spring Hill. The teacher, Catherine Ferraro admitted to stealing medications from the purses of two teachers after they contacted School Resource Deputy Stacy Rodriguez about the situation. Ferraro had been stealing items from the teachers since the beginning of the year according to the report.

A Hernando County Jane Doe, murdered in 1972 may have a chance to tell her story. Approximately 3 days after her death, a teenage boy discovered her body. Her remains had already started to decompose, making her unrecognizable. She was buried by the county following an autopsy. Then in June 2015, her body was exhumed for DNA testing, anthropological assessments, and facial reconstruction. Three dimensional printing was used to create a replica of her skull which was then used for facial reconstruction, a relatively new process forged by forensic artist Joe Mullins.

A quiet retirement was not exactly the plan for Lorenzo and Adriana Aday 84 and 73 respectively. Hernando County Vice and Narcotics discovered an elaborate grow house at their home in Brooksville on, oddly enough, Highgrove Rd.

Sheriff Al Nienhuis presented his case to the BOCC for the $770,000 net increase to his budget at the first budget hearing on September 3rd. His requested budget was $42,980,966. The Sheriff ended up decreasing his budget $62,000 to $42,918,246 by the final budget hearing on September 22nd. At the September 3rd meeting, the Commission voted 4-1 for Assistant County Administrator Zoettlein to look into returning the Sheriff’s excess fees and fines for FY 2014-2015.

Sheriff Al Nienhuis presented his case to the BOCC for the $770,000 net increase to his budget at the first budget hearing on September 3rd. No increase for the Sheriff can come from property taxes, as Commissioners agreed to not raise the millage rate this year. At the end of each fiscal year, the Sheriff’s Office returns a certain amount of excess fees and fines to the County. The Commission voted 4-1 for Assistant County Administrator Zoettlein to discuss with the Sheriff’s Office the dollar amount that is being returned to county from the Sheriff’s Office for FY 2015.

The opportunity for the community to interact with the Hernando County Sheriff’s department builds a family-oriented bond as well as community trust. Spring Hill Lanes recently hosted the 15th Annual Hernando County Sheriff’s Charities Bowling Extravaganza and this year was the lanes were full.