The Sad Story of a Cannibal and a NYker Who Lost Everything and Now His Face

The homeless man whose face was eaten off by the 'Miami cannibal' during a horrific, 18-minute attack was a star 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.

According to his long record of petty arrests, he spent the last four decades in Florida and nothing is yet known about how his tragic fall from grace from top student to a life on the streets.

 It comes on the same day footage of the 65-year-old's dramatic rescue was released which 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.

The harrowing attack, which has shocked America, took place on Saturday afternoon on the MacArthur Causeway near Miami beach.

Rudy Eugene, 31, originally from Haiti, chewed lumps of flesh from Mr Poppo's face after stripping and beating him.

New footage of the almost 20-minute ordeal was released hours after the first picture emerged of the victim - as well as stomach-churning images of his horrific injuries.

The video shows that a number of cyclists and drivers passed by and did nothing to stop the brutal attack. One driver slows down before driving off, though police say he then called 911.

 As police piece together the last hours of Eugene's life, they believe he attended a Memorial Day weekend beach party before making the three-mile journey home on foot in more than 90F.

Brutal: Rudy Eugene, 31, pictured in an old police mugshot, was shot dead by police in Miami, Florida, following the horrific attack where he ripped pieces of flesh from his victim's face

He took off and scattered his clothes as he walked across the causeway - police later found his drivers license and clothes strewn from the beach to the mainland - before pouncing on the homeless man he found sleeping on the elevated train tracks, according to the Miami Herald.

After he strips and punches his victim, he straddles him before starting to eat his face off. Cars and a number of cyclists passed the two men while the attack took place.

It was almost 20 minutes until officer Jose Rivera shot Eugene shortly after he arrived. He shouted at the 31-year-old to stop but he simply got up and growled and continued eating at the man's face.

Former friends of the dead attacker today spoke of their shock at the brutal assault.

 But as more information comes out regarding what may have caused Eugene to attack Mr Poppo, images of the victim's face reveal the extent of the damage.

Images of Mr Poppo - all of which have not been confirmed by police as genuine - have surfaced  online showing most of the victim's face removed. 

'He had his face eaten down to his goatee. The forehead was just bone. No nose, no mouth,' said Sgt Armando Aguilar, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police.

Sgt Javier Ortiz, vice president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, said it was one of the bloodiest 'and goriest scenes I've ever been to.'

The Miami Herald reports that Mr Poppo has been homeless for some time, at least since 1983, and has a long history of arrests.

He was arrested at least 24 times since 1978, mostly for drinking in public and trespassing, but also a handful of felony arrests for burglary, assault and resisting arrest.

  

Friends and family of Eugene have come forward claiming that the North Miami Beach High School graduate 'was not a face-eating zombie monster'.

'The Rudy we know was a nice gentleman with a warm smile and funny. He’s not like that at all,' former classmate Victoria Forte told The Miami Herald. 'We are going to do our part as his friends to not let him go down like this.'

Long-time friend Cassandra Metayer said that Eugene was the son of Haitain immigrants and he grew up in Miami Beach.

He played football and married but divorced two years later.

A cyclist described the terrifying moment he witnessed Eugene tear pieces of flesh from Mr Poppo's face at the side of the freeway.

Larry Vega, from Miami, was cycling off the MacArthur Causeway on Saturday afternoon when he saw the savage attack, which he described as 'the most gruesome, traumatic thing I have ever seen in my life'.

He told WSVN: 'The guy was like tearing him to pieces with his mouth and I told him to get off. But the guy just kept eating the other guy away, like ripping his skin.

'A police officer came over, told him several times to get off then climbed over the divider and got in front of him and said, "Get off!" But the guy just stood his head up like that with a piece of flesh in his mouth and growled.’

Mr Vega said Eugene continued to eat his victim's face so he was shot repeatedly.

Images taken from a Miami Herald surveillance camera show the legs of the two men lying beneath a freeway underpass.

Mr Vega described the crime scene - which he compared to a horror movie: 'It was just a blob of blood. You couldn't really see, it was just blood all over the place.

'It was one of the most gruesome things I have ever seen in my life in person. You know, you see these things in the movies but when you see it in person, it's pretty traumatic.’