MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A mother was on her way to participate in a religious retreat when a drunk woman, who was driving a Hertz rental blue Toyota Solara to a bar, ran a flashing red light and struck and killed her in 2006, in Miami-Dade County, according to police.
Glorida Marcia Hall, a mother of two, was 40 when she died in a crashed green 1992 Mazda B2200 pickup truck at about 4:25 a.m., on Aug. 12, 2006, at the intersection of West 68 Street and 16 Avenue, in Hialeah, records show.
Miami Police Department Cmdr. Joaquin Freire, Hall’s brother, described her as “a caring friend, a beautiful sister, a spectacular daughter,” and “a loving mother” of two girls -- “who miss her terribly.”
Leydis Menéndez Abdala, the drunk driver, was injured, police said. She confessed had been airlifted and hospitalized when there was a toxicology test that showed the alcohol in her blood was more than twice the legal limit during the fatal crash, according to police.
“As an officer, I’ve encountered horrible accident scenes, but nothing I have witnessed could ever prepare me for what I witnessed that morning in August that took my sister’s life,” Freire wrote in a statement after Menéndez Abdala vanished, according to police.
Freire didn’t give up on finding Menéndez Abdala, who was the subject of an America’s Most Wanted segment on March 10, 2007.
“I passed the accident scene on my way home from work and did not realize it was my sister until I got a knock at the door. My sister’s death has literally destroyed my family and has left a huge void in my heart,” Freire wrote in a letter that was featured on the AMW segment.
During the search, law enforcement agencies warned Menéndez Abdala, who was born in Cuba, changed her hair color often and sometimes used green or blue eye contacts. The fugitive flyers also reported that she wore “a lot of make-up to cover distinct, dark skin pigmentation underneath her eyes.”
In September 2023, the Crime Stoppers reward for information increased to $25,000. According to an arrest warrant in the case, the U.S. Marshals Service learned on Aug. 25 that Mexican authorities were set to deport Menéndez Abdala, 52, back to Cuba.
Menéndez Abdala, a wanted DUI manslaughter suspect, had been on the run for more than 19 years when US Marshals escorted her from Mexico to Miami-Dade, where correctional deputies booked her at about 2:55 a.m. on Saturday, records show.
When she appeared in bond court on Sunday, Freire told the judge that Menéndez Abdala had been in a relationship with a Hialeah Police Department officer, and she might have learned about the toxicology report before she fled.
Menéndez Abdala had a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams requested her pre-trial detention without bond on Monday, records show.
Related social media posts
17 years ago Leydis Menendez Abdala was driving under the influence and crashed into Gloria Marcia Hall ending her life. We are asking if any one has information about this incident to contact @crimestoppers305 at 305-471-8477 and you may be eligible for a reward of $10,000. pic.twitter.com/1GLTx5nHPY
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) July 19, 2023
#ColdCase #WANTED #DUIManslaugther - Leydis Menendez-Abdala was involved on August 12, 2006 in a DUI crash that resulted...
Posted by Miami-Dade & The Florida Keys Crime Stoppers on Monday, July 3, 2023
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