Always Carry Your Gun

Lost Illinois man murdered when he asks for directions in Coconut Grove

By Marlene Naanes
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 31 2006, 1:03 PM EDT


MIAMI -- Authorities were searching Monday for a man who witnesses said shot and killed an Illinois tourist who was asking for directions.

After dropping his son off at a shopping mall, Ronald Gentile, 54, pulled over in the Coconut Grove area Saturday afternoon, police said. Witnesses reported seeing Gentile roll down the window on his rented white Chevrolet Cobalt. A man dressed in black then apparently approached the vehicle, robbed and shot Gentile.



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``We are speculating that because he was not familiar with the area, he stopped to ask for directions,'' said Miami police spokesman William Moreno.

The furniture salesman from Homewood, Ill., stumbled out of his car and collapsed. Only one person stopped to help, police said. Gentile was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police have no suspects in the shooting and only a vague description from the one witness who ran to help Gentile.

``There are many businesses and many people in the area,'' Moreno said. ``There are many witnesses, and only one stayed with the victim. We are asking those (other) witnesses to realize that this is a human life, a great father.''

Authorities were not saying where Gentile was shot, how many times or exactly what the suspect took.

Gentile was in South Florida to celebrate his son's 17th birthday. He was supposed to spend Sunday morning watching Superman Returns with his son Paul, whose bithday was Saturday.

"He was heading home," Paul said, adding that his father was staying with him, his mother and stepfather. "He made plans to have dinner with my parents."

The teen and his family made a tearful plea to the media during a Sunday afternoon news conference at Miami police headquarters. The Palmetto High School senior, his mother, stepfather and two uncles asked witnesses to come forward and help police search for Gentile's killer.

"It's a horrible crime," said his ex-wife, Cathy Girten-Gleber. "We're his family. We loved him. We need your help to find the person who did this."

Police have no suspects in the shooting and only a vague description from one witness who ran to help Gentile, who was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died.

Shortly after Gentile dropped off his son for work at Jake's Bar, an upscale restaurant at Sunset Place and Red Road, the furniture salesman was driving to his ex-wife's Miami home and got lost in Coconut Grove, police theorize. They suspect Gentile pulled over his rental car, a white Cobalt, at Washington Avenue and Jefferson Street about 5:30 p.m.

"We are speculating that because he was not familiar with the area, he stopped to ask for directions," Moreno said.

Instead of offering help, a man dressed in black shot Gentile and ran off with some of his belongings. A witness saw Gentile stumble out of the bloodstained car and fall just a few feet away.

That witness called police and tried to help Gentile. Everyone else in the area fled, Moreno said.

Police would not say how many times Gentile was shot, where he was wounded or what the gunman took from him.

Gentile, who left Florida about 10 years ago, had arrived on Thursday for a long weekend visit with his son. He had spent months planning the trip, his first to Florida in two years.

Gentile and his son went shopping Saturday before Paul went to work at about 4:30 p.m. Shortly after midnight police notified Paul, his mother and stepfather that Gentile had been killed.

Paul described his father as a kind, extremely trusting man who was always smiling.

Girten-Gleber, who remained friends with her ex-husband after their divorce, said he savored movies partly because he used to enjoy acting.

He also enjoyed "being a big kid" with his son, Girten-Gleber said. Gentile, who had remarried, lived in Margate for about four years, said Paul's uncle, Patrick Gleber.

"He was essentially a tourist," Gleber said. "This could happen to anybody, that's the tragic part about it."

Anyone with information should call Miami police detectives at 305-579-6530 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 305-471-8477.

Marlene Naanes can be reached at mnaanes@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7922.
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This scumbag who robbed and killed this man KNEW that he was an easy mark ,because he was driving a rental car so the driver was from out of state asking for directions ,, therefore he HAD NO GUN to protect himself and was going to be a push over, NEVER STOP IN A BAD PART OF ANY TOWN TO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS ,DRIVE TO A WELL LIGHTED STORE or LOOK FOR A POLICE CAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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