Lengthy article with lots of details. The investigative errors are heartbreaking.
The Unsolved Murder of Regina Mae Armstrong • Morbidology
Snips:
Shortly after finishing their lunch, Regina, Christina and their babysitter’s young son decided they would go outside and play. As they were cavorting around the courtyard at the Semoran Terrace apartments, a man approached them at around 12PM. He disappeared before returning to speak to the children once again. This time, he offered Christina and the young boy $2 each to stand watch at a nearby apartment which he claimed belonged to him and his wife. He told them he was taking Regina with him to pick up his grandchildren and promised to be back within half an hour.
When Regina and the anonymous man didn’t return, Christina started to worry. Just the week before her abduction, Regina had participated in an Orlando police program which was designed to teach children to avoid dangerous situations with strangers. It soon dawned on Christina that something awful could have potentially happened to her little sister. She and the babysitter’s son ran back to the apartment where Christina tried to explain what had transpired to the babysitter. Instead of taking heed to what Christina was saying, the babysitter instead locked the door and ignored her, assuming she was messing around and being dramatic. It wouldn’t be until two hours later, when the babysitter’s boyfriend turned up, that Christina finally got to detail what had transpired.
Snip:
In addition to the missing person posters, a composite sketch of the abductor was generated. He was described as a white male of approximately six feet tall with a medium build and dark hair. He was estimated to be between 37 and 40-years-old and was wearing a plaid shirt, faded jeans, and a gold watch with Roman numerals. His upper lip had been split as if he had recently been in a fight and he was missing two teeth on one side of his mouth. On his left forearm, he had a tattoo. “He smelled oily, like he worked for a mechanic or on cars. He didn’t seem like a normal guy,” recalled Christina.
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She also recollected that he smelt of alcohol. Shortly after the composite sketches flashed across television screens state-wide, a 7-year-old girl from Cocoa Beach told her father she had some important news to share. She was adamant that this was the same man who had attempted to abduct her from their home just days before Regina was abducted. As the young girl, Erin, had been sleeping, a man crept into her bedroom after pryig loose a screen and unlocking the bedroom. The man attempted to lift Erin out of the window. Her 9-year-old sister, Elisa, awoke and started screaming to alert their parents. When he heard the child screaming, the kidnapper dropped Erin on the grass outside and sprinted away. Police also started to investigate whether it was the same man who abducted a 9-year-old girl on her way home from school on the 7th of June and raped and abandoned her in St. Augustine.
Police announced that they believed the killer to be somebody living in Central Florida due to the location the body was found. “Based on where we found the skull and clothing, I personally feel it was someone in that area,” said Oviedo Police Chief Dennis Peterson. The fact that Regina was disposed of in the same state where she was abducted also suggested such.
