Daytona Beach, I-4, Central Florida Media Thread NO DISCUSSION

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11929741/

SNIP>>

By Clint Van Zandt
MSNBC analyst & former FBI profiler
Updated: 9:11 p.m. ET March 20, 2006

Clint Van Zandt

Since Christmas 2005 an unknown serial killer has murdered three women in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area. The media and the police speculate that he may kill again this month, noting that he killed in December, January, and February. He may, unfortunately, feel the need to meet this terrible expectation. The believed interval between the three known murders is 19 days, 41 days, and 23 days, or an average of three weeks between homicides. If this is any kind of pattern for the killer, he could be expected to strike again as soon as this week.

The three known victims are local women, who worked along Ridgewood Avenue. They may have abused drugs and worked as prostitutes or otherwise raised their victim profiles to put them at high risk.


The body of Laquetta Gunther, age 45, was discovered December 26, 2005, in a narrow alley between two buildings off Beach Street. Found in a fetal position, partially clothed, she had been shot in the head. Julie Green, 34, was found January 1, 2006, lying facedown in a ditch at a construction site off LPGA Boulevard. Investigators have not revealed whether Green, like Gunther, was partially clothed. She had been shot. And, on the afternoon of February 24, shortly after 1 p.m., police were tipped by a man, calling from a pay phone, as to the whereabouts of the body of Iwana Patton. Patton, 35, was found on a dirt road just off Williamson Boulevard. She, too, had been shot. Having identified the mystery caller who led investigators to the body, police no longer consider him a suspect.

Many questions arise about the unknown serial killer who has murdered these three women. But most vacationers and students arriving here for spring break, seeking the beautiful sand and sun of Daytona’s beaches, have no idea that this murderer may be out looking for his next victim. Will the killer strike again, and if so, will he seek his next victim from the ranks of crack addicts and streetwalkers? Or will he look for a new type of victim? Because at least two of his three known victims abused drugs and were prostitutes, other women with similar backgrounds would be an obvious choice for this killer. But, will he continue to seek victims living and functioning on the edge of society? They are easy victims for him. Or will he change his MO to frustrate police efforts to identify him? These are just a few of the questions that profilers and investigators are racing to answer, before another woman is killed by this cold, faceless, relentless killer.
 
Person Of Interest Questioned In Serial Murder Case
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Eyewitness News learned overnight that detectives on the Daytona Beach serial murder case questioned a person of interest. The unidentified man was arrested Monday night on unrelated drug charges
Investigators working the serial homicides said the individual they detained is not considered a suspect, even though he was involved in an altercation with a woman he didn't know near the location where police found two of the three murdered women.


Detectives in Daytona Beach said the murders of Julie Green, Laquetta Gunther and Iwana Patton have several things in common. All three voluntarily got into cars with men they did not know. All three were found dead laying in an alleyway, ditch or dirt road within a close proximity of each other.


Detectives also have reason to think the murders were committed by the same person in December, January and February.


While police have questioned some persons of interest, they have already ruled out the people they talked to. Those people included drug dealers and "johns," men who seek out prostitutes.


Police said two of the victims were known as crack addicts and prostitutes.
http://www.wftv.com/news/8455672/detail.html
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- There were new developments in the search for a serial killer who killed three women in Daytona Beach. Tuesday investigators tried to find out if the wanted man was the one they had been looking for.

Police arrested David Lindsay Saturday as he was helping serve food to homeless people in Daytona Beach. Investigators said he had been volunteering under a fake name. Lindsay is a convicted murderer that has been eluding police for five years.

David Lindsay is being held at the Volusia County branch jail.

Police said for many years he was living a double life, and for many years volunteers at the Volusia-Flagler Coalition for the Homeless were unaware they were working beside a murderer.

"He took care of us, he was a good person. I don't know what happened with his life or anything," said Coalition resident Pamela Arrowood.
http://www.wftv.com/news/9362177/detail.html
 
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
 
Wallet Checked In Hunt For Daytona Serial Killer


POSTED: 4:10 pm EDT May 5, 2008
UPDATED: 4:40 pm EDT May 5, 2008



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Police have seized a wallet belonging to a victim in the search for the Daytona Beach serial killer, Local 6 has learned.
popup.gif
IMAGES: New Victim Photos
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IMAGES: Prostitutes Hunt Killer

The wallet belongs to Laquetta Gunther, the first victim in the killings.
Gunther's wallet was in the home of a close friend, Stacy Ditmer, who said the wallet contained several phone numbers of people she associated with, police said.
Investigators said they believe the same man killed Gunther and three other women execution style in the Daytona Beach area.
Recently, Daytona Police Chief Mike Chitwood asked for help in the search after his officers began taking DNA samples during some traffic stops.
Anyone with information concerning the deaths is urged to call a new serial killer hot line at 888-619-5734.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
 
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 &#8212; ones that service the I-4 area in the region &#8212; 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:

&#8226;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.

&#8226;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:

&#8226;The dismembered body of Regan Kendall, 48, was found near Osceola Parkway and Boggy Creek Road in Osceola County in July.

&#8226;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.c...on+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=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.


 
I have to research this also, a woman's remains were found near Tampa. I think it was off of the interstate, I can't remember. She was a student and was missing for around 3 years and a motorist found the body. He got a flat and was waiting for AAA and just walked a bit up on to the grassy area and found her remains. Sorry it is so fuzzy but it was a least a yr ago I read about it.



http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...s-bones-along-i-75-in-tampa-are-human/1080533

I think this was Lisa Ann Mowrey. Yes they were, found the link and story.



http://www.wtsp.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=128180
 
5:43 p.m. EST, June 22, 2012|

By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel

Detectives from a dozen police departments in Orange and Osceola counties will join in a task force to investigate homicide cases....

"The murderers who think they've gotten away with it should be relatively frightened," said Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar, who helped organize the task force with the goal of bringing together less-experienced officers with seasoned detectives to investigate homicides.

Investigators from the Apopka, Belle Isle, Edgewood, Kissimmee, Maitland, Oakland, Ocoee, Orlando, St. Cloud, Windermere, Winter Garden and Winter Park police departments will be members of the task force. The State Attorney's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are also participating.

More at link:


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-06-22/news/os-homicide-task-force-orange-osceola-20120622_1_task-force-homicide-unit-homicide-cases
 
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://articles.orlandosentinel.com...erial-killers-serial-killer-case-iwana-patton

http://www.allthingscrimeblog.com/2...nal-tracking-the-daytona-beach-serial-killer/
 
snips from another article:
The boyfriend of one of the victims said his mate had lived briefly with one of the other women killed.Rick Marcott, the boyfriend of Julie Green, 34, whose body was found at a construction site off LPGA Boulevard early Jan. 14, said Green had stayed briefly with Laquetta Gunther in a house in Bunnell. he recalled that Green had stayed at least two weeks in a house in Bunnell where Gunther and another victim, Laura Lee Welsh, also stayed(Welsh was shot to death in a drug deal, police said). investigators arrested Ollie Edward Parker of Daytona Beach and him charged with second-degree murder in her killing. Charles N. Hollowell, who investigators said was attempting to buy cocaine when Welsh was shot, had been charged with third-degree murder in the same case. However, Hollowell pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted purchase of cocaine and agreed to testify against Parker.
According to police, Patton's last known address was on Derbyshire Road in Holly Hill. The house she lived in is owned by a man who also has at least two assisted living facilities. The facilities are behind the residence where Patton lived.The guy they were staying with had been in jail," Marcott said
An employee of the Homeless Assistance Center here said Patton went to the center "sporadically" to pick up her mail. He also said he recalled Gunther going there, as well.

After Gunther and Welsh were killed, Marcott said Green told him she knew who had done it.

"Then she ended up dying a week later," he said.


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2006-01-26/news/VBRIEFS26_5_1_tallahassee-parker-cocaine
 
Here's what the chief had to say shortly after Stacy Gage was found in 2008

Chitwood said they now know that later that night Gage left home to meet someone. He said that someone is the person who killed her and left her body in the woods near a remote parking lot and the picture is getting clearer on whom that someone is.

"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,"

That's a pretty emphatic statement, Is he implying that she would only go meet a clean cut person or is there something else telling him this.

The perp doesn't appear that selective.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/chief-daytona-beach-serial-killer-probably-clean-c/nJmyx/
 
Hope y'all don't mind me chiming in here, but I read this today.

Sniped

Woman found dead, half-naked at abandoned Daytona Beach home


Now, Daytona Beach police Chief Mike Chitwood said his investigators are trying to find out if her death could be the work of a serial killer.

Chitwood said a preliminary investigation showed Jenkins was murdered at the abandoned home sometime between Sunday and Tuesday.

Although the initial investigation did not show any obvious signs of trauma, like gunshot wounds, a preliminary autopsy report showed Jenkins suffered internal trauma, which led to her death.

Chitwood said Jenkins' murder did not fit the method of operation of the so-called Daytona Beach serial killer, gunshot wounds and leaving behind DNA.

So, at this point, the police investigation does not show any link to that serial killer, who murdered three known prostitutes or drug users from 2005–2007, but Chitwood said he's not discounting that possibility.

"It does not fit the M.O., but then again, if you have a serial killer, they're going to change their ways, especially in today's world," Chitwood said. "They are probably more astute than any of us in this room, as far as what detectives are going to do, what the media is going to report, and things like that. So, obviously, it's something in the back of our minds."

http://www.mynews13.com/content/new...icles/cfn/2015/4/23/body_found_at_abando.html
 
More about Faith Jenkins. She'd moved to Florida from West Virginia just a few months prior to her murder.


Woman killed in Daytona was mother of 4 from West Virginia
By Lyda Longa
Published: Monday, April 27, 2015 at 4:32 p.m. - Last Modified: Monday, April 27, 2015 at 4:34 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH &#8212; Faith Jenkins&#8217; older brother just wanted his little sister to go back home to West Virginia.
Now all Terry Jenkins Jr. wants is for someone to catch the person who killed the mother of four.

In a telephone interview from his home in Charles Town, West Virginia, Monday morning, Terry Jenkins, 37, said he was not happy that his sister had left Charles Town to come to Daytona Beach with a cousin in December. Relatives also expressed dismay that 35-year-old Faith Jenkins had been arrested for prostitution here even though they acknowledged that she had struggled with drugs for years &#8212; especially heroin.

[...]
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer, said police Chief Mike Chitwood.

The chief said Faith Jenkins&#8217; body was found under a piece of aluminum siding. Her underwear was about 10 yards from her body. She was also barefoot, but her shoes and pants have not been found, Chitwood said.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20150427/news/150429560?p=1&tc=pg&tc=ar
DBPD Looking For Help To Solve Murder Of Homeless Woman

[...]
In a press conference held Thursday afternoon at DBPD headquarters, Chitwood says Jenkins was found partially naked in the back yard and that she had probably been there for at least a day before her body was found.

The incident report shows police found 2 condom wrappers and a pair of panties a few feet away from Jenkins&#8217; body, though Chitwood wouldn&#8217;t definitively say at this point that Jenkins was sexually assaulted before she was murdered.

An autopsy done by the Volusia County Medical Examiner&#8217;s Office indicates that Jenkins&#8217; death was a homicide, according to Chitwood, though he declined to go into specifics as to why investigators think she was murdered.

&#8220;There was no outward trauma to the body,&#8221; Chitwood added. &#8220;There was internal trauma.&#8221;

Chitwood also wouldn&#8217;t rule out the possibility of a connection to the series of serial prostitution murders in the city nearly a decade ago, but he said the preliminary information didn&#8217;t indicate that Jenkins&#8217; murder was related to those unsolved cases or the still-wanted suspect.

[...]
Anyone with information can contact DBPD at 386-671-5100 or Crime Stoppers at 888-277-8477 to remain anonymous and possibly qualify for a cash reward.

http://newsdaytonabeach.com/womans-death-at-vacant-daytona-beach-home-called-suspicious/
 
Here's the article where the socks and the car were mentioned.

Tips pour in after TV show on Daytona serial killer
By Lyda Longa
Daytona Beach News Journal
Published: Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 5:30 a.m. - Last Modified: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 12:15 p.m.

[...]
Based on tire tracks left at the scene of one of the shootings, investigators believe the killer may have been driving -- or still drives -- a 2003 Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable. The tires that left their mark in the mud at that murder scene -- the second killing in January 2006 -- were the factory tires placed on either the Taurus or the Mercury when those cars rolled off the assembly line, Malek said.

[...]
Malek also said the car could be someone's company vehicle.
Additionally, all four women were found nude, but the killer left socks on three of his four victims, police said.
 
Gunther, Green and Patton:
All three victims are believed to have met their killer on or near Ridgewood Avenue, a thoroughfare well known to local prostitutes and the &#8220;johns&#8221; that drive along the avenue looking for a date.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11929741/...-serial-killer-set-strike-again/#.VdbXIpeJvY9

Kristin Dunn:
Dunn's most recent known address was the Happy Time Motel on Ridgewood Avenue in Holly Hill. Dunn, 47, had lived as a guest of a male friend off and on for several years, but she had not been seen at the motel for more than a year, said Rick Powell, the motel property manager.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2004-09-21/news/0409210019_1_volusia-county-dunn-body

Investigators traced her movements the night before her death to a motel on South Atlantic Ave in Daytona Beach where she was seen leaving in a blue, 1993 Chevrolet Astro van driven by a male friend of the victim.

http://www.volusiasheriff.org/homicides/default.htm

Faith Jenkins:
People familiar with Jenkins said she was a known prostitute who would frequent the area and have sex for money in the backyard.
http://www.mynews13.com/content/new...icles/cfn/2015/4/23/body_found_at_abando.html

Mamie Jameka Thomas (by the way, Thomas was found wearing only a skirt and her tennis shoes):
Daytona Beach police and neighbors of the area where the body was found said they've seen an increase in petty crimes like car break-ins recently. Police said prostitutes also frequent the streets nearby.
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/preliminary-autopsy-results-reveal-little-about-wo/nJm36/

Maxwell's victims, Pamela Sue Will, Chastity Starr, and Cathryn Ann Carnes:
Will&#8217;s last known location was Sept. 8, 2010, at the Red Carpet Inn, 1855 S. Ridgewood Ave. in South Daytona. Police there said Will was asked to leave the motel for lack of payment.

He recalled that the young woman
[Starr] &#8212; who worked as a prostitute along the Ridgewood Avenue corridor &#8212; always waved and &#8220;hollered&#8221; at relatives if she saw them drive by to check on her.

In the 1988 stabbing, Maxwell told police that he had picked up prostitute Cathryn Ann Carnes on South Ridgewood Avenue in Daytona Beach.

http://nadaytona.org/2012/06/22/aa-...uspect-in-murder-of-holly-hill-chasity-starr/
 
Newsweek
January 10, 2008

But with Gage's murder, the investigation took on new urgency. Police got what they hope will be an important break in the case Wednesday when the van Gage was driving was found in the lot of an apartment complex popular with young single people and college students. It had been there, according to residents, for about a month, or roughly since Gage had driven off to buy a bag of ice. Or so Gage told her grandmother, Betty Hill; Chitwood believes she was on her way to an assignation she had arranged over the Internet. Hill knows her granddaughter had a long-standing cocaine addiction and several minor arrests, but she insists Gage was turning her life around, and she doesn't believe she was a prostitute.
 

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