BARTOW, Fla. – Authorities say the mother of an 11-year-old Florida girl who was killed after being abducted in 2004 has died of a heroin overdose.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Thursday that Susan Schorpen's death is one of eight fatal overdoses being investigated in the central Florida county.
The Herald-Tribune (http://bit.ly/2pYR2nW) reports the 47-year-old woman died April 10.
Schorpen's pleas for the return of Carlie after she was kidnapped by Joseph P. Smith from a car wash captivated the nation during a six-day search in February 2004. The girl's body was found in the woods behind a church less than three miles from where she was abducted.
Smith is attempting to have his death sentence vacated. He was convicted of first-degree murder, sexual battery, and abduction.
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