[mussmicky]

'I'm going to be late. I love you and I'll be back': The last words of Miami cannibal to his girlfriend just hours before horrific attack

• Rudy Eugene, 31, tore into victim's face with his teeth and growled
• Police believe he may have taken 'bath salts,' a potent new drug
  
• Images have been released of Ronald Poppo, 65, recovering in Miami hospital
• 75 per cent of victim's face chewed off in 'some of the most horrific injuries staff have ever encountered'
  
• Was still conscious when he was stretchered off to hospital
• Investigators trying to piece together last hours of Eugene's life
• Sister of Mr Poppo thought he killed himself years ago
• Girlfriend of Eugene thinks Voodoo curse caused attack
  

By Emily Anne Epstein
PUBLISHED: 04:10 GMT, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 15:33 GMT, 31 May 2012

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The girlfriend of Rudy Eugene, 31, the man who police say horrifically ate a homeless man's face over Memorial Day weekend, has spoken out for the first time about the man she knew and loved.

Eugene's victim, Ronald Poppo, 65, remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital with his nose, mouth and eyes torn off. His sister, Antoinette Poppo, thought he had killed himself years ago and is distraught by the news of his injuries.

The harrowing attack, which has shocked America, took place on Saturday afternoon on the MacArthur Causeway near Miami beach.
But Eugene's girlfriend today recalled the last time she saw him on the morning of the attack, when he was holding his Bible and kissed her goodbye, saying 'I love you.'
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Loved: The girlfriend of Rudy Eugene, 31, the man who police say gnawed off a homeless man's face over Memorial Day weekend, is speaking out for the first time about the man she knew and loved, pictured as a boy

The girlfriend, who did not wish to giver her name, spoke to The Miami Heraldabout her on-off boyfriend.

She said on the morning of the attack he woke her up at 5:30 a.m., saying he had to run out to meet a friend. 'I told him be safe and I love you too. When he walked out the door I closed it, locked it and went back to sleep,' she said.

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She said she thought it was odd he was leaving so early, but didn't press the issue. An hour later, he called.

'He called me and told me his car broke down. He said, “I’ll be home, but I’m going to be a little late." Then he said, "I love you and I’ll be back,"' she said, never to hear from him again.


Ride: Eugene's girlfriend recalled the last time she saw him on the morning of the attack, when he was holding his Bible and kissed her goodbye, saying 'I love you,' before jetting off in his purple car, pictured

CBS acquired footage of his purple car in the city impound, where it ended up after he discarded it.

Eugene's girlfriend said she became concerned when he never called her back and went out to search for him.

'I was worried. I couldn’t do anything. I just kept calling the phone,' she said to The Miami Herald. 'I left messages saying, "Rudy, call me, I’m really worried."

When she returned home that night, she saw the news on the television about a nude man who chewed off the face of another nude man.

'I thought to myself, "Oh my God, that’s crazy,"' she said. 'I didn’t know that it was Rudy.'


Big Brother: She said she thought it was odd he was leaving so early, but didn't press the issue. An hour later, he called and said his car broke down and he would be late







Worried: Eugene's girlfriend said she became concerned when he never called her back and went out to search for him


She continued to search for him on Sunday, but to no avail. On Monday morning, she got a call from someone in his family saying 'Rudy’s dead, Rudy’s dead.'

She went to meet his family to grieve and that's when she learned Eugene was the 'Miami Cannibal.'

She insists that he never used any recreational drugs besides marijuana and was even trying to quit. Eugene would refuse to take over-the-counter medication for headaches and was sweet and well-mannered, she said.

The attack could only be explained by Eugene being drugged or the victim of a Voodoo curse, she said. 'I don’t know how else to explain this,' she said.

Clean: She insists that he never used any recreational drugs besides marijuana and was even trying to quit. She claims he must have been drugged, or worse, cursed
Rescue: Paramedics tend to the victim, putting him on a stretcher and dressing his gruesome injuries


'That wasn’t him, that was his body but it wasn’t his spirit. Somebody did this to him,' she said. 'He loved God he always read the Bible he would give you knowledge on the Bible. Everywhere he went his Bible went. When he left he had his Bible in his hand.'

Ruth Charles, Eugene's mother, was also shocked by the news reports of her sons crimes and reached out to the media to try and clear his name.
'Everyone says he was a Zombie. He was no Zombie. That was my son,' Ms Charles said to CBS.
She said that her boy was good-natured, went to church often and had recently given her a Mother's Day card.

'I never had any problems with him,' she said, flipping open a photo album of Eugene growing up.

Mr Poppo's sister, Antoinette Poppo, also spoke to CBS, shocked not only that the victim of the notorious Miami Cannibal was her brother, but that he was alive at all.

Still conscious: As he is transported from the walkway to the ambulance, Mr Poppo starts moving his arms around
'I really don’t understand what happened,' Ms Poppo said. 'We really thought he was no longer on this earth.'

Mr Poppo had been living on the streets of Florida for the past 30 years, estranged from his family who thought he had committed suicide years before.

The Miami Herald reported that Mr Poppo would stay just outside a public restroom on the north side of Jungle Island in Miami.

'I’m very upset. I’m just glad my mother isn’t here to see this.'
Victim's Sister, Antoinette Poppo

It would take just minutes to walk to Mr Poppo's hangout from where Eugene's car broke down, CBS reported.

Ms Poppo has only just learned that her brother is still alive, hanging on for dear life.

'I remember a very intelligent boy,' Ms Poppo told CBS, beginning to cry. 'I’m very upset. I’m just glad my mother isn’t here to see this.'

Mr Poppo was once a student at a prestigious New York school before he became a down-and-out.
A yearbook picture of Ronald Poppo was obtained by the New York Daily News, who reported the victim was in the Latin Club and worked in the guidance office at Stuyvesant High School before he became homeless.




Fall from grace: Ronald Poppo when he was a star student at Stuyvesant High School in New York, left, and as a down-and-out in Florida


Lost: Mr Poppo had been living on the streets of Florida for the past 30 years, estranged from his family


Recently released footage of the 65-year-old's dramatic rescue shows he was still conscious and moving his arms after the attack, while Rudy Eugene's body lay next to him.

After paramedics tend to the victim's facial injuries, they carefully place him on a stretcher.

As they carry him from the walkway where the attack took place to the ambulance, he starts to wave his arms around and has to be strapped down.