Off Duty Juno Beach, FL Officer Dies in Crash

[MOD 1]

UPDATE-

MARTIN COUNTY, FL -- Best Friends Lynda Kruse and Tiffany Russell went out for a girls' night Saturday.

Their drive home early Sunday morning ended on a new stretch of Citrus Boulevard near Palm City when troopers say Kruse lost control of her Mini Cooper.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Jeffrey Johnson explains, that the car overturned several times and both women were ejected.

On the dark and empty road the wreck went unnoticed for hours.

The womens' boyfriends spent hours searching for them when they didn't come home.

When the sun rose, they found the car buried in the brush.

Tiffany Russell, a Juno Beach police officer was 24 years old and the mother of a young daughter.

Her police department issued a statement that reads in part, "She had been an officer with the department for approximately 1 1/2 years. In that short time she had become a valued part of our community, a dedicated officer and great friend to all of us here. She was extremely well liked in this small community and will be dearly missed."

Kruse was 23 years old and friends say she was a stay at home mom to her infant son.

Her neighbor, Garrick Lewis, tells NewsChannel 5, "She was so excited when she had the baby. The baby wasn't 4, 5 months old. Its sad."

Along with their young children, neighbors tell us both women leave behind boyfriends who are local police officers.

Kruse's former neighbor, Stacey Lacari, says, "at least he has something of her and that's what he has to hold on to."

Florida Highway Patrol says it appears the women were not wearing seat belts.

Investigators are still not sure what caused Kruse to veer off the road.
MARTIN COUNTY, FL-- The wheels of the car are barely visible through the brush. The wreckage, and the bodies of two young women, not discovered for hours.

"The last time they had been spoken to was about 2:30 in the morning and they were found once the sun came up around 6:30 in the morning," said Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Jeffrey Johnson.

Russell and Kruse were found by their boyfriends, who had been out looking for them all night because they never came home.

The accident happened on a new stretch of Citrus Boulevard that just opened on Monday. The Florida Highway Patrol says the Mini Cooper was headed northbound when it veered off the road near a curve.

"Overturned several times, both occupants were ejected and both were deceased on scene."

A lot of unanswered questions remain as to whether the new road had anything to do with the deadly crash.
Investigators are now awaiting autopsy and toxicology results to determine their exact causes of death and whether alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the women were not wearing seat belts.





PALM CITY, FL-- Two people have died following a rollover accident some time this morning in Palm City.

The time of the accident remains unknown but investigators arrived on scene of Citrus Boulevard just south of Martin Highway shortly after 7 a.m. this morning when a Martin County Sheriff's Office deputy found a vehicle on its roof and two people deceased inside.

It is unclear what caused the accident but authorities continue to investigate.

Source http://www.wptv.com/content/tcoast/s...b-6f52e15c69c9

Officer Tiffany Russell was a wonderful person and outstanding police officer. She loved life and her family. Tiffany will be missed by many. There has been alot of questions regarding why the accident happened and why was she not wearing her seatbelt. I am the one who found the vehicle crash and it would not have mattered if she was wearing one or not. Tiffany was my best friend and soul mate, but she did make a mistake and not wear her seatbelt. To anyone who reads this, we are not invisible even though on the job we all pretend to be. Buckle up and stay safe.

A memorial fund was set up on behalf of Hailey Lynn Troutman (Tiffanys Daughter) and Landen Read (lyndas Son) at Suntrust bank. Any dontions would be gratefully appreciated by both families. Landen is the son of Stuart PD Ofc. J Read.
Thank you all for the support you have shown my family and Jeff's.

Ofc. C Troutman