SUNRISE, Fla. – Scott O’Dell knew FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger.
Two years ago, while on vacation, O’Dell’s wife decided she would stay in her native Colombia with their son. He says the boy was abducted.
“That’s where I met Laura Schwartzenberger. She was my FBI agent,” O’Dell says. “She was really a great agent and a great human being.”
Schwartzenberger, 43, and fellow Special Agent Daniel Alfin, 36, were shot dead Tuesday executing a search warrant in Sunrise as part of a child pornography case.
The suspect, who took his own life after killing those agents and injuring three others, has been identified as 55-year-old David Lee Huber.
The @FBI just released these pictures of the two agents killed in yesterday’s raid. Special Agents Laura Schwartzenberger and Daniel Alfin. @WPLGLocal10 https://t.co/GV9yVqGWxO pic.twitter.com/ATM8gsR1TE
— Ian Margol (@IanMargolWPLG) February 3, 2021
O’Dell remembers Schwartzenberger as a good listener, who always took his phone calls and understood the human condition. He felt she really cared.
“She obviously had a very deep love and understanding for children and children’s rights,” O’Dell said.
Schwartzenberger joined the FBI in 2005 and her initial assignment was with the FBI’s Albuquerque, New Mexico, office before she was assigned to FBI Miami in 2010.
She lived in Coral Springs and is survived by her husband and two children.
Alfin also worked on cases to protect children, He joined the FBI in their Albany office in 2009 and was assigned to Miami in 2017.
In 2018, he was awarded the director’s award for exceptional work in Operation Pacifier, which busted the people behind a notorious child pornography website.
“He was, in essence, a cyber expert, borderline genius when it comes to cyber matters,” said Andrew Vale, the former Special Agent in Charge in Albany.
Vale said Alfin was highly respected, hard-working and quiet, but very personable.
He lived in Weston and is survived by his wife and one child.
“Just a tremendous loss all the way around,” Vale said.
Schwartzenberger was also an avid CrossFit participant at a gym in Coral Springs, which is creating special merchandise to raise money for her family.
“Her work ethic. Her encouragement. Everyone wanted to be Laura’s partner. She was that person,” said Michelle Brown, owner of CrossFit Vice.
How to help
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Schwartzenberger’s family. Click here to access it.
Her CrossFit gym in Coral Springs is also doing a fundraiser and selling merchandise. See below for more information:
It is with extreme sadness we write of the passing of a beloved CrossFit VICE member Laura Schwartzenberger. As an FBI...
Posted by CF Vice on Wednesday, February 3, 2021