FL-Remains St Petersburg id'd Melinda Harder

[Sleuthster]

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

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingne...al-remain.html

October 15, 2008

Skeletal remains found in 1989 identified as St. Petersburg woman missing since 1980

ST. PETERSBURG -- Skeletal remains found in Maximo Park in March 1989 have been identified as a woman who went missing in 1980, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department.
On the evening of July 26, 1980, police said, Melinda Harder, 30, of 2136 23rd Ave. N in St. Petersburg went out with her sister-in-law while her ex-husband watched her three children. When the two women returned home, Harder walked to her boyfriend's house in the area of 17th Street and 20th Avenue N, police said. She never came back, and a missing persons report was filed the next day.

Nine years later, a bulldozer clearing brush from an area in Maximo Park, 6500 34th St. S, uncovered a rolled-up carpet containing the bones of a female, police said. There were no signs of trauma, but the Medical Examiners Office said the cause of death was homicidal violence. The manner of death and her identity was undetermined.
Using the bones as a guide, a clay composite of the unidentified woman was reconstructed and sent to law enforcement agencies across the country. Brenda Stevenson, a St. Petersburg Police civilian investigator assigned to the homicide unit who routinely revisits cold cases, submitted forensic evidence of the remains to the FBI. Police said Stevenson then reviewed an FBI list of missing white females over a 10 year period from when the bones were found. She noticed that the Maximo Park clay composite looked a lot like a photo of missing Melinda Harder. Stevenson waited more than a year for DNA results.
Based on cheek swabs from Harder's daughter and mother, police said, the DNA proved Stevenson's suspicions.
There are no known suspects in Harder's homicide. St. Petersburg Police are now seeking clues about how she died. Police ask that anyone with information call the department at (727) 893-7780 or the confidential tip line at (727) 892-5000.

[Lucy's mom]

I'm so glad that her family finally knows where she is but my gosh, did that take a long time. I wish there would have been something on Doe Network about unidentified remains as well as the clay composite. I'm sure one of the WS' would have figured out who she was long ago! Glad to hear she's found but would like to now know who killed her. I wonder if they looked or are looking at the boyfriend?

[Sleuthster]

Originally Posted by Lucy's mom

I'm so glad that her family finally knows where she is but my gosh, did that take a long time. I wish there would have been something on Doe Network about unidentified remains as well as the clay composite. I'm sure one of the WS' would have figured out who she was long ago! Glad to hear she's found but would like to now know who killed her. I wonder if they looked or are looking at the boyfriend?

Yes, the fact that she was found rolled up in carpet makes me suspicious that it was someone she knew and went to their home. It has been so long now I wonder if the same carpet would be in the boyfriends house now or if he or his family lives there after all this time.

[Ms Suzanne]

Hi

This is very good they found out who she is.I always use to think this Jane Doe(I heard about her many years ago)was a victim of Bobby Joe Long (A serial Killer in Tampa Florida)In this link it says this?Is this unidentified girl still unidentified today?


http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...ong/index.html


Then other bodies were found.

Bobby Joe Long, 1984


On November 19, 1984, a woman's corpse floated up in the

[Ms Suzanne]

In this link it says this?Is this unidentified girl still unidentified today?


On November 19, 1984, a woman's corpse floated up in the Hillsborough River. She had been strangled with some type of device. She was never identified, but she fit Long's profile.