Victim identified as manhunt for Mendota Heights suspect continues

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (KMSP) - The homicide victim from Saturday's incident in Mendota Heights was identified by police Sunday as 47-year-old Beverly Cory.

Friends and family knew immediately that Cory was the victim when they heard the location of the incident--she was killed in her office at the Mendota Heights Executive Center, where she worked as a financial planner for Edward Jones. Cory's partner doesn't work on Saturdays, they said, meaning Cory was the only person there at the time. 

Mendota Heights Police shared a heartfelt note on its Facebook page, saying "If she was half as amazing, caring, and resilient as they say, the world lost an amazing soul."

Her clients remember her as a professional, hardworking woman who always reminded them to save more money.

"She's always telling us to save more money for retirement," Pat Ballard, a friend and client of Cory's said. "She was right, of course. Maybe we'll try harder now that she's gone."

The suspect, Lucifer Nguyen, and Cory did not know each other, police said.

Authorities are still engaged in a manhunt to locate Nguyen, who robbed a woman at her home on Delaware Avenue in Mendota Heights before making his way into the White Pine Senior Living Center, forcing an hours-long evacuation.

He then made his way across the street into Cory's office building, where she was later found dead.

Nguyen is no stranger to law enforcement, currently facing felony drug and assault charges in Wisconsin.

If you have any information on the incident or his whereabouts you are encouraged to call 911 or the Dakota County Sheriff's Department at 651-322-2323.