The timing and geography are off for Stano. In February, 1972, Stano was enrolled in school in Pennsylvania. He spent time off and on with his grandparents in Ormond Beach, FL, but didn't move there permanently until late 1972, I believe. I could be wrong, but I don't recall that he was known to have commited murder in south Florida, either. Most of the crimes were in central Florida around Pinellas and Volusia Counties.
To gain perspective, I've put together a partial timeline on Schaefer for the period near Debbie's disappearance. This is what I've come up with so far:
09/03/71 - Hired by Wilton Manors Police Dept
12/17/71 - graduates from the police academy at Broward Community College
01/05/72 - Belinda Hutchens, 22, goes missing after she is seen by her husband as she leaving home with a man in a blue Datsun. The husband later ID's Schaefer's car as the vehicle.
02/29/72 - Debbie disappears
03/16/72 - Chief Scott of the WMPD is fed up and ready to fire the new rookie, but Schaefer wins a reprieve.
04/20/72 - Scott reaches the end of his rope, and Schaefer's employment is terminated.
06/30/72 - Schaefer is hired by the Martin County Sheriff's Department
07/23/72 - He is fired and arrested by Martin County Sheriff Richard Crowder. A few days earlier, Schaefer had come across two teenage girls hitchhiking, Trotter and Wells. He drove them to a halfway house and promised to take them to the beach the next day. On July 22, he picked them up and drove them into the swamp at Hutchinson Island where he threatened them and left them tied to a tree with nooses around their necks. He returned the next day to find they had escaped. Then he called the Sheriff and told him what he had done. The girls still wore handcuffs when Sheriff Crowder later found them walking near the forest.
07/24/72 - Schaefer is charged with aggravated assault and false imprisonment, and released on bond.
09/27/72 - Teenagers Susan Place and Georgia Jessup leave in a car with an older man to play guitar at the beach. Place's mother notes the license plate but with an error. The girls never return. Six months later, Place's mother realized her mistake, and in March of 1973, she visits Schaefer in jail with the girls' photos. He claims he has never seen them.
10/23/72 - Two 14 year-old girls, Mary Alice Briscolina and Elsie Farmer are reported missing.
12/21/72 - Schaefer is convicted and sentenced to a year in jail and three months probation. His sentence commenced on 01/15/73.
01/08/73 - Colette Goodenough and Barbara Wilcox, both 19, set out from Biloxi, MS, hitchhiking to Florida and are never seen again. Identification and papers belonging to the girls are later found in Schaefer's mother's home. Both bodies were recovered in 1977 at Port Saint Lucie.
01/15/73 - Schaefer begins serving his sentence for the crimes against Trotter and Wells.
01/17/73 - Farmer's remains are discovered near Plantation High School. Briscolina's remains were found in February, 2000.
04/01/73 - The remains of Place and Jessup are found in Hutchinson Beach. Evidence at the crime scene revealed the girls had been tied to a tree.
04/07/73 - Police search his mother's home and find a collection of guns and knives, pictures of unidentified women and of Schaefer in women's underwear, plus a vast assortment of articles belonging to his victims, including Susan Place's purse and a piece of jewlery belonging to Elsie Farmer.
Schaefer was eventually convicted of the murders of Place and Jessup, and was stabbed to death in prison in 1995. He was never prosecuted for any other murders, yet he was one of the most savage and prolific serial killers of the 20th century.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/gerard_schaefer/1.html
Gerard John Schaefer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/Gerard_Schaefer
Schaefer left behind a collection of disturbing writings in the form of letters to an ex-girlfriend, Sondra London, which are compiled in a book entitled
Killer Fiction.
Amazon.com: Killer Fiction (9780922915439): G. J. Schaefer, Sondra London: Books
I downloaded it to my Nook awhile back, but haven't read all of it. It's not easy to read. I'm sure I'll go back and finish it now.
My heart goes out to you and your brother, Still_Seek_Answers. I'm glad you're determined to keep searching. Victims' families should never be met with such obstacles as you've faced. The timeline I posted is just a glimpse into the crimes of Gerard Schaefer. Besides Debbie, there is a long list of unsolved murders and disappearances that could very well be attributed to Schaefer. How many other victims' loved ones are facing the same struggle for answers?
