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Records show warnings preceded deadly ambush on Lake County deputies
Newly released records show authorities were warned years before a deadly ambush on Lake County deputies about alleged abuse and disturbing conditions inside the family home tied to the attack.
EUSTIS, Fla. - Records obtained by FOX 35 News show a woman alerted the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in 2019 about alleged abuse inside the home tied to the 2024 ambush that killed a Lake County deputy.
Two other deputies were injured in the incident.
The backstory:
On August 2, 2024, deputies with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office were ambushed. Three deputies were hit. Master Deputy Bradley Link was killed.
Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link died in a shooting in Lake County (Lake County Sheriff's Office)
After the incident, deputies found Michael Sulpizio and his adoptive daughters, Cheyenne and Savannah, all dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Julie Sulpizio was the only survivor. She’s now facing the death penalty, accused of luring deputies to the home to kill them.
The report
What's New:
Rochelle Eldridge is Cheyenne and Savannah’s former stepmother.
She says she called DCF alleging abuse by Julie and Michael Sulpizio as far back as 2004. FOX 35 asked DCF for the record of those calls, and they replied, "The Department conducts investigations concerning all allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment in Florida. Information regarding investigations is confidential."
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FOX 35 News did obtain a report showing in 2019, Eldridge told the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and DCF, Cheyenne and Savannah looked raggedy and were "pretty much being held captive" – never allowed to have friends or talk with neighbors. The report alleged Michael Sulpizio would hit the girls.
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It also says the girls were forced to wear gas masks outside when it rained, and told the world was coming to an end.
"The whole situation is out of a sci-fi movie," Eldridge alleged in that report.
But DCF investigators said they found nothing.
Five years later, the two girls were dead, killed alongside their alleged abuser.
What they're saying:
Rochelle Eldridge said she tried for years to get in contact with Cheyenne and Savannah.
"I thought one day I'd be able to show the girls and be like you were loved, you were fought for, and you were wanted."
She believes DCF failed them.
"The whole situation never should have happened," said Eldridge. "There was many times that it could have been prevented."
What's next:
Court records show Sulpizio has been diagnosed with bipolar schizoaffective disorder, but has now been deemed competent to stand trial. She has a competency review hearing coming up in June.
The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.