Reverend Robert J. Bob Hoeffner, a 76-year-old retired Catholic priest, and his sister Sally Hoeffner were found slain at their Palm Bay home on the evening of January 28, 2024. The killings were part of a multi-location rampage that began earlier that day when police responded to a domestic disturbance involving 24-year-old Brandon William Kapas; Kapas’s uncle warned officers his nephew might be armed. Shortly after 2 p.m. that day Kapas shot his grandfather, William Kapas, to death at the grandfather’s home. Investigators attributed the deaths of Father Bob and Sally to the same suspect. The rampage ended when the suspect was killed by police after a confrontation that also left two officers with minor gunshot injuries.

Father Hoeffner served more than 50 years as a priest, founded St. Isaac Jogues Parish in 1987, and served at St. Joseph’s Parish in Palm Bay from 1999 until retirement. The St. Joseph community and the Orlando Diocese publicly mourned the couple’s deaths.

If anyone knew Father Hoeffner, Sally, or has information about the events of January 28, please come forward.