Abducted child witnessed father gunning down mother, 2 others in Broward, deputies say
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Amber Alert unravels triple murder in Tamarac
Nathan Alan Gingles is accused of abducting his 4-year-daughter and killing her mother, grandfather and a neighbor in Tamarac.
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The man accused of kidnapping his 4-year-old daughter and gunning down his wife, her father and a neighbor whose house she ran into to escape him committed the murders as the child watched, deputies say.
Nathan Alan Gingles, 43, is accused of killing Mary Gingles, 34, her 64-year-old father David Ponzer, and her 36-year-old neighbor Andrew Ferrin early Sunday morning in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Tamarac. He’s jailed and faces a slew of charges, including murder, kidnapping and child abuse.
The murders had the community reeling Tuesday as neighbors and relatives recounted the horror of what happened in their neighborhood, where children’s toys and gardening tools lay scattered across lawns.
“It looked like a soldier in action. It was methodical,” said George David Jr., Ferrin’s uncle, who watched Ring camera footage that showed Nathan stalking Mary before she was killed. David’s brother, who is in remission from cancer, was asleep in the house at the time of the killings.
“The way that the woman was terrified and running and the way that he had this controlled, fast-style pace... You could feel the terror that was in this woman’s mind and heart,” David said.
Nathan was last employed as an IT contractor at the U.S. Southern Command in Doral and previously served in the military. His abduction of his toddler daughter Seraphine led to an Amber Alert and BSO deputies spotting Nathan’s silver 2016 BMW X3 at the Walmart at 7900 West McNab Road in North Lauderdale. They arrested him there and found Seraphine.
Deputies learned about the brutal killings after a 911 operator received a call Sunday morning about four shots fired near the 5800 block of Plum Bay Parkway. The caller told authorities he heard a woman crying and screaming, “Oh my God!”
Investigators who responded to the area witnessed a man in black clothing walking away with a little girl who wasn’t wearing shoes, according to his arrest affidavit. The heavily redacted report detailed what transpired before the girl was abducted.
READ MORE: After Amber Alert for Broward girl, mother found dead, father arrested on murder charges
Just before 6:30 a.m., deputies found Ponzer, Mary’s father and the little girl’s grandfather, in the backyard of Mary’s home with a gunshot wound to the head, the arrest warrant states. He had been shot and killed while drinking coffee in the patio.
Inside the home, investigators say they saw several gun lock boxes open — and a domestic violence injunction order against Nathan on the kitchen table.
As deputies searched for Mary, a neighbor told detectives that he was awakened by banging on his door. Surveillance footage, the arrest affidavit says, showed Mary frantically seeking help as Nathan chased her with a gun — while the couple’s 4-year-old daughter was behind him.
Surveillance cameras in the neighborhood captured Mary running into a house across the street, where she and Ferrin, her neighbor, were found shot to death, according to the arrest warrant. Moments before the murders, Nathan was seen — with the little girl behind him — following Mary into the home.
Neighbor is recalled fondly
On Tuesday afternoon, a man in a blue hazmat suit walked in and out of a home in the 5800 block of North Plum Bay Parkway, getting supplies from a white van labeled “Aftermath Services LLC” and “Regulated Medical Waste.”
Footprints left behind — including some small enough to belong to the 4-year-old girl — were still visible on the driveway of a neighboring house.
Ferrin’s uncle said he wants to remember Ferrin as the avid traveler and lover of inspirational quotes that he was.
“It could have happened to anyone,” David said. “Someone else [could] have let her in, if my nephew didn’t... Evil overtook a simple act of kindness.”
Alex, who had been friends with Ferrin since they were 8-year-old boys, teared up as he spoke about his friend, with whom he loved spending Christmas.
“There was so much love, presents everywhere,” said Alex, who declined to give his last name. “Andrew had so much love.”
They were supposed to get together on Sunday.
David Bennett, 39, was awakened to the sound of a helicopter over his neighborhood. He said he was “shocked” to learn that his neighbors — whom he knew casually — were killed.
“They were friendly,” Bennett said. “Do-anything-for-you type of people.”
Bennett said he had heard of footage from a neighbor’s camera that showed the girl pleading with Nathan to stop as Nathan methodically stalked his wife. Neighbors, Bennett said, were aware of Nathan’s previous behavior.
In Broward court filings, Mary Gingles documented how her estranged husband abused, stalked and threatened to kill her. A Broward judge issued a domestic violence restraining order against Nathan on Dec. 30 and in February 2024.
READ MORE: ‘I am fearful for my life’: Slain wife of man who kidnapped daughter warned of danger
“With Nathan’s violent history, his flagrant disregard for rules or laws, and his telling our daughter that he is going to kill me, I am fearful for my life...” Mary said in her December court petition.
She also noted in the court document how she found a bag belonging to Nathan that contained gloves, plastic wrap, restraints and duct tape, among other items. And she said her estranged husband placed a tracker on her car and tampered with the security camera at her Tamarac home.
“He has already taken steps to prepare to murder me,’’ she said in her December petition, “but is waiting for the opportune time.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM.
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