Unsolved FL - Daytona Beach Serial Killer (Ridgwood Ave corridor)

[pixies]

Regardless of her past or present...she did not deserve to die. Being a prostitute doesn't mean you should die.
I remember seeing a sign at the Green River killing march (prior to him being caught) that said *The punishment for prostitution is not the Death penalty".

I have faith in LE that they are working hard to solve this.

[Taximom]

At least they have a vehicle and license plate to look for. I hope that yields many clues.

[Beyond Belief]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Daytona Beach is pushing harder than ever before to find the city's serial killer. Thursday, the police department's new task force started their intense effort to track him down. Also Thursday, an anonymous donor gave Crime Stoppers $10,000 as a reward for information in the case.

For two weeks now, Daytona Beach police have spread out across the city, hunting for clues that could lead them to a killer. Thursday, they formed a task force with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Nine investigators, including a profiler, will focus solely on tracking down the man police say could be after anyone.

"When you look at some other incidents, other serial killer murders, there were innocent people mixed in who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood.

The warning is not lost on area women. Victim Stacey Gage's picture was plastered up at a local businesses warning women to watch out. Women who Eyewitness News talked to said they are thinking about the murder and the danger more often.

"I believe it could happen to anybody. This world is getting more and more
http://www.wftv.com/news/15077883/detail.html

[Beyond Belief]

Details Emerge About Stacey Gage’s Last Hours
this information might lead them to her killer.
Stacey had been shopping a Publix store just hours before she went missing, as evidenced by surveillance camera footage.
The clothes she is seen wearing in these images is the same outfit she was wearing when she left later that night to get ice. Police now believe she was on her way to meet someone that night and that this person may be her killer.

“This person we’re looking for is a clean cut person. He’s somebody who probably has a good job. He’s somebody that you’ll never suspect,” Daytona Police Chief Micheal Chitwood said.

During their investigators have been working with a profiler who believes the killer is either married or has a girlfriend. This woman is potentially in as much danger as the women he has already killed.
Police are forming a task force to handle this latest murder in what authorities now are categorizing as a possible serial killer case. Stacey Gage’s body is the 4th that has been found in the Daytona Beach area since December 2005, and the first three victims all exhibited the same shot to the back of the head. These women were left naked, as was Gage’s body. Chief Chitwood also wanted to deliver a message to the killer.
http://www.crimesceneblog.com/?cat=29
The van driven by Stacey Gage the night she disappeared has been located. Authorities had been on the lookout for her vehicle since her body was found last week in a wooded area in Daytona Beach.
The van was found in the western parking lot of Water Club Apartments, 1225 S. Beach St.
SLIDESHOW: Images Of Victim At Publix Prior To Murder

http://www.wftv.com/slideshow/news/15064799/detail.html

[MeoW333]

I wonder if he's meeting his victims through the internet; maybe some kind of online dating service?

[GA2FL_Girl]

4th Victim-
http://www.news-journalonline.com/sp...ths/010808.htm

Doctor questioned-
http://www.news-journalonline.com/sp...AD01050308.htm

Task force disbanded-
http://www.news-journalonline.com/sp...ST01090408.htm

[tbthow]

Wow stunning info.. You WS's are awesome thank you for all the work you do here. Keep at it everyone. You're the best.

I hope whoever done this is caught soon. My belly has had enough of this for today so I must log off. I love WS's but some of the story;s try to haunt me and so I have to back away..

Thank you to ever WS we have, Bless all of your family's..

[MeoW333]

Was that doctor ever cleared by DNA testing?

[tfrohning]

Here is the newest article from AMW this last week

Daytona Beach Serial Killer

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=76697

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/ent...le+Feedfetcher

Police Unveil New Leads In Search Of Fla. Serial Killer
Police Chief: Killer's DNA Found On 2 Victims

http://www.wesh.com/r/27061257/detail.html

[Kimster]

The police chief said familial DNA would only be used in major crimes, like the serial killer case.

He believes that if approved, it could be in use within a year.

Chitwood said the person who came up with the software is making it available to FDLE for free.

But he said the clock is ticking.

"You have a killer on the loose who has killed four women, who is not gonna stop," Chitwood said. "We may be in a cooling off period here. But if we have learned anything in the history of this country with serial killers, they'll continue until they get caught."

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news...-serial-killer

[ScorpiosDaughter]

Memorial to serial killer victim disappears

DAYTONA BEACH -- A memorial erected in honor of the first victim of the city's serial killer likely was stripped away by city workers.

The wreath, candles, flowers and colored posters that once flapped in the wind between two small buildings to mark the murder of Laquetta Gunther on North Beach Street have been missing for the last several weeks, said Gunther's best friend Stacey Dittmer.

Gunther's body was found on Dec. 26, 2005, wedged between two buildings -- 705 and 703 N. Beach. She had been shot in the head with a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber Sigma Series VE, police said. The Medical Examiner's Office however said Gunther had been killed on Christmas Eve.

<modsnip -- cont. at the link>

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...isappears.html

[ScorpiosDaughter]

Editorial: FBI, police should mine databases to find serial killers

By doggedly combing through state and federal computer files and aggressively filing state Freedom of Information Act requests with local police departments, Scripps Howard News Service (SHNS) reporter Thomas Hargrove created a database of 185,000 unsolved murders committed since 1980. Crime experts say it is the most complete accounting of homicide victims ever assembled in the United States.

A search of that database turned up alarming clusters of unsolved killings of women across the nation that strongly suggest the work of serial killers. The SHNS study focused on communities where police failed to solve at least three-quarters of murders of women of similar age killed by similar methods. The reason for singling out women in the study is that they represent 70 percent of all known serial murder victims.

The search turned up 161 clusters in which 1,247 murdered women met the criteria.

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/new...llers_31624476


Link to national homicide database:

http://www.scrippsnews.com/projects/serial-killers

[ScorpiosDaughter]

I'm new to this forum, so if I am not following protocol please forgive me. I've been following this case for some time and didn't see some of these articles included in this thread.


Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers?

The first body was found the night after Christmas in 2005.

LaQuetta Mae Gunther lay in a fetal position, partially naked, on the floor of a dark Daytona Beach alley — a bullet hole in the back of her head.

Since then, three more women with known criminal histories have been found slain execution-style in this Central Florida beachside city best known for its love of motorcycles, auto racing and sunbathing.

When the fourth victim was discovered, Daytona Beach police knew they were looking for a serial killer.

According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers.

Those include 19 deaths along the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Daytona Beach, although all but one local law-enforcement agency denies any serial-killer cases on its books.

<modsnip>

Sheriff's offices in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia and Polk — ones that service the I-4 area in the region — said they have no serial-killer cases. Police agencies in Orlando and Kissimmee said they don't either.

Only Daytona Beach police acknowledge they are working a serial-killer case.

The other Daytona Beach victims are:

•A construction worker in January 2006 discovered the body of Julie Ann Green, 34, on an access road off LPGA Boulevard, a remote area near Interstate 95.

•The body of Iwana Patton, 35, was found in February 2006 in a wooded area just east of I-95. The body of the fourth victim, Stacey Gage, was found in January 2008 near an abandoned church less than a mile from I-4.

Other recent murders in Central Florida appear to fit a profile laid out by the bureau's probe:

•The dismembered body of Regan Kendall, 48, was found near Osceola Parkway and Boggy Creek Road in Osceola County in July.

•And deputies in July found the naked body of Kelly Lanthorne, 37, behind the Courtyard Villas apartments, near South Orange Blossom Trail in Orange County.

<modsnip>

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-01-11/news/os-serial-killer-20100111_1_serial-killers-serial-killer-case-iwana-patton

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...ient=firefox-a

**Note**

If anyone is interested, I have been tracking female victims of unsolved homicides from Tampa to Daytona and there are many. I'll post links if anyone would like to look into this further.

[Chrissiepoo]

I'm not saying her disappearance is related but it could be:
http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...-her-home.html

I have not seen mention of Chasity's disappearance on this forum at all.

[ScorpiosDaughter]

Chasity is included on my list of unsolved homicides in Florida - I checked and can't find any new info on the case - though it does appear a candlelight vigil was held in her honor earlier this month. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family and friends as they continue to search for her.

[Chrissiepoo]

I'm from Daytona Beach and I know the area that she was last seen... not a good place at all. This is considered one of the "bad" parts of town so the outcome of Chasity's case probably isn't good.

[bessie]

More information on Chastity Danette Starr, 27
Missing since 01/15/2011

Last seen in the early morning hours of January 15, 2011
at the Ridgewood Inn, 128 Ridgewood Ave in Holly Hill near Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach.

5'4"tall, 110 lbs, straight brown hair often worn in a ponytail.

Anyone having information regarding Chasity Starr’s whereabouts is asked to contact Sergeant Gina Baker of the Holly Hill Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at 386-248-9488.

If you wish to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477) or you can text your tip by Texting "TIP231 plus your message" to CRIMES (274637)

http://www.westopcrime.com/index.php...ils&story=1120

April 8, 2011
Starr, listed at 5-feet-10 and 110 pounds with brown hair typically pulled back in a ponytail, was last seen Jan. 15 at the Ridgewood Inn. Her mother, Candy Starr, brought food to her room that night, Barker said.



Candy Starr left about midnight. Barker said a friend also staying in the motel room told police Chastity Starr left sometime after that "and has not been seen or heard from again."

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...ill-woman.html


According to the article above, she was ruled out as the body found in Ormond on January 16, 2011.


Starr is a known prostitute and drug abuser. She has at least three tattoos, a large star inside her left wrist, a butterfly on the back of her neck, and Winnie-the-Pooh on her right ankle.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...ill-woman.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...r_chasity.html

[bessie]

On January 17, 2011, the remains of a woman were found in a black trash bag on Airport Blvd in Ormond Beach. The body had been placed there within the previous six months, and was described as a white female, 20-45, 110-115 lbs, with light brown or dirty blonde hair.

http://www.wesh.com/news/26515046/detail.html

http://www.wesh.com/r/26530959/detail.html

Police thought the body might be 49 year old Pamela Will

This is quoted from a post in the Unidentified forum

Originally Posted by Hazel

Agencies compare notes on skull and bones

Pamela Will, 49, was last seen in September when she was kicked out of the Red Carpet Motel for not paying rent.

photograph of a sandal which was found near the remains

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news...ull-and-bones#

FL FL - Ormand Beach - Human Skull in black plastic bag, Jan 2011 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

FL FL - Ormand Beach - Human Skull in black plastic bag, Jan 2011 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Pamela Will

January 21, 2011
Will, whose 49th birthday is Sunday, is listed as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 130 pounds with brown hair, green eyes and a light complexion. Her last known location was Sept. 8 [2010] at the Red Carpet Inn at 1855 S. Ridgewood Ave. in South Daytona, where police said she was asked to leave for lack of payment.



She was reported missing about two weeks after that. In November, South Daytona police put out a flier describing Will as jobless, homeless and "in a depressed state of mind."



Court records show she has been arrested several times in Volusia County and recently served jail time for prostitution.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...uncertain.html


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/will_pamela.html


In the last article, LE was pretty sure the remains would turn out to be Will. I can't find any updates to confirm or deny. One report from January 23, 2011 says her mother submitted a DNA sample.

The mother of a missing South Daytona woman, Pamela Will turned over DNA evidence to see if the body found in Ormond Beach is her daughter's.

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news...t-Orange-woman

That article is actually about Laurel Lea Richards, a young woman missing from Port Orange since February 1, 2010. One article says police believe she left her home to purchase drugs in Palm Coast. One year ago, police said they believe she was picked up from her home by someone she knew. On the evening she went missing, a friend received strange phone call from her phone. The caller's name was Jamal, and the call was placed in New Port Richey.
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...rs_laurel.html


Laurel Lea Rogers

Investigators said they believe someone picked up Lauren [sic] Rogers, since her car was broken down, and that person or people are preventing her from coming home.

http://www.wesh.com/r/26681800/detail.html

Her family just held a vigil to mark the two year anniversary of her disappearance.

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news...t-Orange-woman

FL FL - Laurel Lea Rogers - 28 years old - Port Orange - 1 Feb 2010 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

FL FL - Laurel Lea Rogers - 28 years old - Port Orange - 1 Feb 2010 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

[bessie]

Deceased

December 26, 2005 -- LaQuetta Mae Gunther, 45, found shot 703-705 N. Beach, Daytona Beach

January 14, 2006 -- Julie Ann Green, 34, shot, found in a ditch on a dirt road near LPGA Blvd.

February 24, 2006 -- The body of Iwana Patton, 35, found on a dirt road near Williamson Blvd.

All three found nude and shot with a .40 caliber weapon

January 3, 2008 -- Stacey Gage, 30, found in wooded area along Hancock Blvd. It's believed her murder occurred in December 2007 and was "eerily similar" to the first three murders, according to LE reports.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/sp...daytonadeaths/

Missing

February 1, 2010 -- Laurel Lea Rogers

September 8, 2010 -- PamelaWill

January 15, 2011 -- Chastity Starr

January 17, 2011 -- Unidentified female body found in Ormond Beach

Of the four murderd women and three missing, all were known to abuse drugs and/or work as prostitutes. They were also mothers and daughters.

With the exception of Pamela Will, the missing and murdered dates are between December and February. I don't know if that's significant, but it's hard to overlook.

More info at AMW

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cf...6697&refresh=1

[bessie]

Originally Posted by ScorpiosDaughter

**Note**

If anyone is interested, I have been tracking female victims of unsolved homicides from Tampa to Daytona and there are many. I'll post links if anyone would like to look into this further.

Yes, please list them. The information you've posted so far is very much appreciated. Just be aware of the 10% copyright rule. When quoting published articles, we can post up to ten percent of the content accompanied by a link. Thanks.

[ScorpiosDaughter]

Originally Posted by bessie

Yes, please list them. The information you've posted so far is very much appreciated. Just be aware of the 10% copyright rule. When quoting published articles, we can post up to ten percent of the content accompanied by a link. Thanks.

Slayings of 19 prostitutes, drug users near I-4 in Central Fla. may be serial killer:

When the fourth victim was discovered, Daytona Beach police knew they were looking for a serial killer.

According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers.

Those include 19 deaths along the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Daytona Beach, although all but one local law-enforcement agency denies any serial-killer cases on its books.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/cr...printArticle=y


****


February 6, 2007: SARASOTA COUNTY

Unidentified

SARASOTA COUNTY - Lt. Skip Wood stared at the spot where he first found her: an overgrown thicket shaded by an oak tree, silent except for the far-off groan of heavy machinery.

It was not the first time Wood had come back to this acre of woods in the middle of an industrial park in south Sarasota. Wood comes looking for signs of disturbance, for anything that reveals someone has returned to check on the remains of a body buried here.

The body is the only Jane Doe on record at the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. Saturday marks three years to the day the body was found. Who Jane Doe was, and who killed her and buried her here, are among the most troubling mysteries facing local law enforcement officers.

"It's exceptionally frustrating to us," said Wood, a 27-year crime scene investigator. "We revisit this case quite often."


http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100205/ARTICLE/2051033/2416/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg


****


October 21, 2007: DAYTONA BEACH

Mamie Jameka Thomas

Victim's body found topless in a grassy lot just off South Beach Street on October 21, 2007. There were no outward signs of trauma and no one in the immediate neighborhood where she was discovered had heard anything out of the ordinary in the hours before her body was found.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/mu...a-thomas.html#

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...tially-clothed


http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2008/01/30/met_185469.shtml


****


July 21, 2009 : ORANGE COUNTY

Brenda Revel


A woman found dead last month near Apopka has been identified as Brenda Revel, 28.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,3344749.story

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_homicide/2009/08/id-of-woman-found-dead-near-apopka-released.html


****


March 28, 2010: HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

Lisa Renee Harris


The body of a woman found Sunday floating in the Hillsborough River has been identified as Lisa Renee Harris. Authorities state that after the photo of a tattoo was released to the media, the victim was positively identified by a family member.

Law enforcement officials state that Lisa Renee Harris was 34 years old and lived in Plant City, Florida. An official cause of death has not yet been determined and the investigation is ongoing. Authorities believe that her body had been in the Hillsborough River for several days before being found by two boaters visiting the Hillsborough River State Park.


http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-tam...ver-identified

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...-river/1083856


http://www2.tbo.com/news/plant-city/...rt-s-ar-58272/


****


March 2010: HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

Lisa Ann Mowrey


Tampa, Florida - Tampa Police say the skeletal remains discovered on I-75 and Bruce B. Downs is an 18-year-old woman who went missing six years ago. Detectives say the remains are 18-year-old Lisa Ann Mowrey.


http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=128180&catid=8


http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...e-2004/1082142


http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/hillsborough/409-missing-woman-was-murdered-police-say


****


June 27, 2011: HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

Melissa Easterling

Riverview, Florida- Sheriff's investigators have identified the body of a woman found early Monday morning along a dirt road in Riverview as 32-year-old Melissa Easterling.


http://riverview.wtsp.com/news/news/...entified/67073

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...ghbors/1177739


****


July 19, 2011: ORANGE COUNTY

Lacy Thistlewood


Lacy Thistlewood, 21, was discovered just before 9 a.m. Monday by two workers who arrived at 8251 Presidents Drive to work on the building, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Detectives have declined to release how the woman was killed.


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-07-19/news/os-orange-murder-lacy-thistlewood-20110719_1_deputies-id-facebook-page-woman

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news...ID-thistlewood


****


October 2, 2011: ORANGE COUNTY

Katharine Zafra

Officials have identified the body of a woman found dead in the front yard of a home Sunday. Investigators said the victim is 37-year-old Katharine Zafra.


http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/october/322835/Dead-body-found-in-Orange-County-yard.html

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news...nd-dead-Sunday

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-10-04/news/os-woman-body-found-orange-20111004_1_drug-charges-investigators-orange-county-sheriff-s-office


****


December 8, 2011: FLORIDA/GEORGIA BORDER

Melissa McCarthy Comiskey

Investigators have identified a woman whose body was found Nov. 30 in woods beside an Interstate 95 access ramp at Woodbine, Ga.

Melissa McCarthy Comiskey, 27, a New Jersey native is thought to have been living in the Broward County area at the time of her death, Camden County (Ga.) Sheriff’s Deputy William Terrell said.

Investigators believe she died from a single gunshot wound to the head, he said.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia...nterstate-exit


****


December 11, 2011: MANATEE COUNTY

Nicole Rose Scott


MANATEE COUNTY - A 29-year-old Sarasota woman whose body was found Sunday morning in a remote corner of southeast Manatee County was likely the victim of a homicide, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Nicole Rose Scott was found in a ditch just east of the intersection of University Parkway and Bourneside Boulevard at about 11 a.m.


http://www.heraldtribune.com/article...KING/111219955


http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111222/breaking/111229856

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...scott-12-11-11


http://www.bradenton.com/2012/01/08/3773353/she-was-lost-in-the-system.html

[ScorpiosDaughter]

South Daytona police: Woman found in ditch last year identified

A DNA match has determined that a South Daytona woman missing since 2010 was the person found dead in an Ormond Beach ditch last year, a police report shows.

Pamela Sue Will, 48, was found buried in a muddy ditch off West Tower Circle on Jan. 16, 2011. She had vanished from South Daytona in September 2010.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...dentified.html

[bessie]

Pamela Sue Will has come home.

R.I.P. Pamela

February 10. 2012 12:15 AM

A DNA match has determined that a South Daytona woman missing since 2010 was the person found dead in an Ormond Beach ditch last year, a police report shows.

Pamela Sue Will, 48, was found buried in a muddy ditch off West Tower Circle on Jan. 16, 2011. She had vanished from South Daytona in September 2010.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...dentified.html

The article says that Will's identity was confirmed a month ago, but a bureaucratic snafu kept her family from being informed until last week.

ETA: Apologies to ScorpiosDaughter. I didn't see that she had already posted this update.

[bessie]

Another woman is missing from the Ridgewood Ave corridor of Daytona Beach, FL.

Carol Jean Pace was last seen April 13 by her landlord at her apartment at 522 Ridgewood Ave., according to a news release form Holly Hill police.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ne...ill-woman.html

Any information about Pace's disappearance should be reported to investigator Jeff Traylor at 386-348-9475 or the patrol sergeant at 386-547-5014.


Carol Jean Pace

[En Passant]

Have they put out a profile on this guy yet? He seems to have the making of a person who will evolve. Nancy Grace is right about spring break etc.....I have family there & Ridgewood (a strech anyway) is bad......it's like you have to drive through to get to the hospital, very seedy.