Jose Vargas Cruz, a 39-year-old business owner from Lake Worth Beach, Florida, was shot and killed on August 7, 2019. Deputies responded to a 911 hang-up shortly before 5:45 p.m. at Cruz Fashion on Lake Avenue and found Vargas Cruz with at least one gunshot wound. The store, opened in 2017, served the local immigrant community with services such as check cashing and retail items.

Vargas Cruz had emigrated from Mexico about 15 years earlier and previously worked as a chef in Boynton Beach before opening his own shop because of the physical demands of his former job. No arrests have been announced and the motive remains unclear; his stepfather, Gerard Cardarelli, suggested that Vargas Cruz’s cash-handling at the store could have made him a target. Family and friends described him as kind and helpful.

Anyone with information about the killing is urged to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.