SARASOTA - A month after the slaying of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, donations to a series of funds created in her memory now top $70,000.
The money will be used for children's education programs, said Sarasota attorney Mary Alice Jackson, who is overseeing the donations. The girl's family is still working on the details.
Carlie's abduction, caught on videotape by a car wash security camera, and a five-day search for the girl riveted the nation after she disappeared Feb. 1. Her body was found near a church.
Unemployed auto mechanic Joseph P. Smith has been indicted in her kidnapping, rape and murder. He will be arraigned next week.
The funds, which have received donations from all over the nation, will be combined into a trust account operated by Jackson, who donated her time to Carlie's parents, Susan Schorpen of Sarasota and Joe Brucia of New York. Jackson's office said an address for sending donations to that account should be available next week.
