Authorities: Murdered girl's mother dies of overdose

Published April 21, 2017

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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