Memorial grows where UPS driver was killed

MIRAMAR – Near a thatch of undeveloped land where cattle eat straw-colored grass, a memorial tied to a light pole is growing.

Some motorists on Saturday slowed down as if driving in a school zone when they passed by the tributes to Frank Ordonez, the UPS driver taken hostage and killed in a shootout on the Miramar Parkway on Thursday.

One car, a black Acura, came to full stop and a hand craned out the window with a cellphone to capture an image of the flowers and messages.

The intersection of Flamingo Road and Miramar Parkway had been closed for a day as law enforcement marked spent shell casings left the on the road. On Saturday, the busy parkway was back to normal with the exception of the memorial.

Written on a brown UPS ball cap were these words: “Our fellow brother, you you will be missed and never forgotten — UPS Hialeah.”

Bouquets of roses in yellow and orange lay up

against a partially flattened FedEx box and had been tethered around the light pole. Hand-writing of all sorts decorated the box.

“You were the kindest guy I knew at UPS. I will miss you brother — Chris,” said one message left at the memorial. “Thank you for what you did out in the city for everyone. RIP Frank Ordonez,” said another.

Near this spot, a shootout erupted between two robbers and many police officers during rush-hour. Ordonez died on live television. His own family saw him fall from the UPS truck, which television stations had been chasing from the air and cops had been chasing on the ground since learning of the carjacking and kidnapping.

Ordonez was 27, and the father of two young girls. Also killed was was 70-year-old Richard Cutshaw. Cutshaw had been stuck in his car on Miramar Parkway when the shootout began.

Law enforcement has yet to say whether bullets fired by police or the robbers, Ronnie Jermone Hill or Lamar Alexander, killed Ordonez and Cutshaw.

Hill and Alexander also were also killed in the shootout. They were 41 and both had been released from prison in 2017.

EILEEN KELLEY/SUN SENTINEL PHOTOS A memorial around a light pole pays tribute to Frank Ordonez, the UPS driver taken hostage and killed in a shootout on the Miramar Parkway.