INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla.-- Barbara Madonna and her nephew Stephen are in from Tampa sitting in front of the Indian River County Courthouse Tuesday.
They're wearing matching shirts with Babe Ruth's number three on the back, not in honor of the Yankee baseball great, but in honor of their loved one, Ruth.
On February 27th, it will be 27 years since Ruth Haut was found stabbed to death in a Central Florida orange grove.
She had been abducted from her chiropractic office in Kissimmee, and driven to an ATM machine on the barrier island in Vero Beach before she was killed.
There is a photo of the suspect from that ATM. No arrests have been made.
“Very frustrated. I mean they had evidence," said Barbara.
The family drove three hours across the state Tuesday because they believe, the man who killed their loved one was in a courtroom hearing. The man the family came to see is listed in the FDLE’s Career Offender database, and faces new felony charges unrelated to Ruth’s death so we're not naming him.
It was the first time the Haut family had seen him in person.
“I thought he was a tiny little bug. He was so small. I just wanted to step on him, and crush him," said Barbara Madonna.
“State attorney, she read off his rap sheet, oh my God she spent like a minute," added Stephen Madonna.
That man's name has been mentioned in another cold case from 1992.
Mary Ellen Wise of Vero Beach was killed in November of that year in a similar manner. She was abducted, taken to an ATM and left in a field.
The two families are friends, bonded through grief.
“Me and Mary Ellen’s sister both agreed if it’s not one… let it be another case that brings him to justice," said Stephen Madonna.
