Uwe-Wilhelm Rakebrand, 33, of Adendorf, Germany, was shot to death Sept. 8, after his rental car was bumped from behind on a Miami expressway. Rakebrand's wife was reading a safety brochure that instructed tourists not to stop if bumped.
Three attackers in a yellow van pulled up beside Rakebrand's car and fired through the window. He was hit in the neck and died. His wife was not seriously hurt.
On Sept. 14, British tourist Gary Colley was killed and his companion, Margaret Ann Jagger, was wounded, when the two were attacked at a rest stop in northern Florida. Teen-agers were arrested in both cases.
The deaths of at least 10 international visitors in less than a year rocked Florida's $31 billion-a-year tourist industry. British tabloids splashed scare headlines across their front pages. "Buy a ticket, get killed," said one.
Around the world, the shootings reinforced the image of the United States, and Florida particularly, as violent and crime-ridden.
Florida officials fought back by increasing police patrols in high crime areas and posting guards around the clock at the state's rest areas. By year's end, Florida officials said the number of crimes against tourists had dropped.
