Local sheriff commends SCCU employees

<p>MELBOURNE, Fla. – Five Space Coast Credit Union employees have been honored by Brevard County Sheriff Philip Williams for their help in a murder investigation. When an 85 year-old SCCU member was robbed and found handcuffed to her bed in a fire in her home, Williams asked the $850 million credit union for help in tracking the thief and possible murderer. “Without revealing too many software specifics, by looking at the member’s account, we were able to tell that her ATM card had been used after the time of her death,” said SCCU Senior Vice President of Operations Thea DeDyne. “Together we came up with a method to provide more rapid assistance for the investigation and within a couple of hours we had a solution.” Employees created a software program, which allowed investigators to track the use of the victim’s ATM card in real-time. The ATM card proved to be a key piece of evidence that linked the suspect to the victim. Authorities were able to trace the movements of the suspect who later committed suicide after being questioned about receipts and credit cards with the victim’s name and account numbers found in his home. “This is a pretty small community,” said SCCU Marketing/ Communications Specialist Lori Augustine. “So when something so brutal happens here we just banded together and are just proud that we were able to help.” DeDyne, senior vice president of operations; Ron Spence, director of systems development; Dave Pavone, director of network systems; Susan Trask, Melbourne branch manager; and Princelle Alexander, security/operations manager were individually honored for their assistance. “Space Coast Credit Union has set a precedent of how technology can be adapted to solve crimes,” said Williams before he presented the plaques. “This is an amazing group of individuals, and we as a community owe them our sincere thanks.” In addition, SCCU President/CEO Doug Samuels accepted a plaque on behalf of the credit union for outstanding community service. “I am thankful that we have employees that will expend such energy and dedication helping in every way that they can,” said Samuels. DeDyne says there are no immediate plans to share this technology with other credit unions as this solution was designed specifically for SCCU’s system.</p>