DARLENE Flynn, who held the Guinness record for owning the most shoes in the world, was found battered to death in her swimming pool – and her young ex-boyfriend was arrested for murder.
“She was a wonderful, wonderful woman,” said her close friend Lenore Rice. “If you were depressed or in a bad mood, Darlene would take your mind off it and take you to her place – which was happy.
“She had a smile that would light up a room. All her friends are devastated.”
Darlene, 58, was featured in The ENQUIRER’s Feb. 8, 2010, issue as the “Queen of Sole.” She had then collected 12,500 shoes and shoe-related items – which had grown to an incredible 15,000, worth more than $500,000 at the time of her death.
“I just love shoes, and it kind of got out of control,” Darlene told us then.