UPDATE: Sheriff’s officers in Florida are distributing fliers offering a $3,000 reward for information that could help the catch the killer of a 19-year-old Park Ridge woman who used to work at a popular Ridgewood bakery.
More than six weeks after the body of Nicole Franco was found in her Oakland Park apartment, authorities are hoping someone saw or knows something that could crack the case.
Franco was working as a pastry chef in Boca Raton, devotedly pursuing a calling that began in her native Bergen County at Carlo’s Bake Shop.
Police said she dialed 911 to report a burglary at 3:30 a.m. on June 3.
Sheriff’s deputies went door-to-door, found a sliding-glass door open and discovered her body inside.
A neighbor told reporters that Franco had moved to the complex earlier this year.
Authorities said she knew a 17-year-old woman in the same neighborhood who also was found dead the same day. They said they don’t believe the killings are related.
A 2012 Park Ridge High School graduate, the upbeat Franco studied baking and pastry at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and exchanged tender messages on social networks with her parents and siblings in North Jersey. She worked at the Boca Raton Resort and Club as a pastry chef.
“This tragedy is already being felt in Park Ridge, which is a tight-knit community,” Park Ridge police Capt. Joseph Rampolla said in a statement. “We will assist the Broward Sheriff’s Office in any way we can, if needed, to help bring the responsible parties to justice.”
“Carlo’s Bakery is shocked to hear of the death of Nicole Franco,” the bakery said in a statement. “Nikki was an enthusiastic and dedicated member of the Carlo’s Bakery family and she will be surely missed.”