Reward offered for information about Good Samaritan’s killer

A man who was shot and left for dead in a ditch had been trying to help his killer, Volusia County deputies said.

Investigators think Carlos Cruz, of Deltona, drove his truck to the ditch where a car was stuck to help the driver, Volusia Sheriff ’s Office spokesman Andrew Gant said. The driver was a stranger to Cruz, Gant said.

The Sheriff ’s Office is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of Cruz’s killer, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Monday.

“We owe it to Mr. Cruz and his family to find the ruthless, coldblooded killer or killers who took his life,” Chitwood said. “It takes a special kind of evil to gun down a stranger who is only trying to help you. And anyone who knows something and stays silent is complicit in this heinous act.”

Cruz, 60, was found behind the car Saturday night. A caller told deputies there was a car in a ditch at Malaga Avenue at Puritan Street. Cruz lived on Puritan Street.

Cruz’s truck was gone. Deputies think the killer stole it, Gant said.

Cruz was an Army veteran and a husband of 34 years. He is the brother-in-law of a Volusia County Sheriff’s Office employee, Edgar Burgos.

Burgos said Cruz was always willing to help others.

“If you needed something and he had it, he would give it to you,” Burgos said. “Knowing him, I bet he went over there to see if they needed help.”

Tips can be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 888-277-8477, online at westopcrime.com or through the organization’s cellphone app. You also can call the Sheriff’s Office at 386-248-1777.