Lorraining
Lorraining
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This is a case that has haunted me for the past 16 years. Cheryl Jones was the mother of two children and lived just a few blocks from me. One of her children was a friend and classmate of one of my children. There were several articles in the Orlando Sentinel in the month following her brutal murder and coverage on local news stations, but only two follow-up articles in next two years. I have the articles which I have downloaded from the Orlando Sentinel's archives, but will not attempt to post them as I understand we are not supposed to do so due to copywrite laws. I will try to report on the important points covered in the articles below. If anyone knows anything more about this case or knows how I can find out if the case was ever solved, please let me know.
Cheryl Jones' two children, 8 year old Stephen and 6 year old Katherine, woke up on the morning of December 12, 1990 to find that their mother was missing from their Orlando home in the upscale Conway neighborhood where they lived. They phoned their father, Paul Jones, in Sarasota where he had been spending several nights a week on his yacht since the couple's separation four months earlier. He contacted a neighbor who went to the home and helped the children get ready and took them to school where they told officials their mother was missing.
Around 9:30 a.m. that morning her vehicle was found by a neighbor 1/2 mile from her home with blood on the bumper and Cheryl's body in the back seat, covered by a blanket. The subsequent autopsy showed she was killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object.
It was reported that the police believe she was killed in her home the night before while the children were sleeping and then placed in her vehicle which was then moved a few blocks away. They think she knew her attacker because there was no sign of a struggle in the home and neighbors had not heard anything unusual the night before. The neighborhood she lived in was a one street neighborhood with very upscale houses which are close together. Neighbors said that the family's golden retriever dog which stayed outside and was known to bark when disturbed had not made a sound that night. There was no indication of forced entry.
Word got around my children's elementary school quickly and my children were talking about it and pretty upset when I picked them up. It was all over the news that they had found her body. It was reported on the evening local television news the next night and reported in the Orlando Sentinel on December 15th that Cheryl had filed a document on September 28 asking a judge to order her husband out of the house. A copy of the handwritten document was shown on the news. It said, "I want to divorce and my husband won't let me! He has threatened to murder me and now he is mad. He has hit me in the past when gets really angry." Her husband's lawyer had filed a denial, stating that "The husband has never threatened bodily harm to the wife and has never been physically violent to her and never would." He further stated, "Those types of allegations are frequently used in dissolution cases to cause the removal of the husband."
She was killed five weeks before they were scheduled to go to court to conclude their divorce. The couple owned a ceramic tile business in Orlando and were part owners in a ceramic tile business in Sarasota. It said in the paper that Cheryl was seeking title to the two businesses and other assets. Divorce records listed the couple's assets at 1.8 million dollars, including their house in Orlando and their yacht.
It was reported in the Orlando Sentinel that Cheryl had been with a boyfriend the night she was killed. His name was never mentioned in any of the articles.
The children were placed in foster care initially, but then given back to their father. Although I am not certain, I believe he moved back into the family home, because I was often behind him and the children in traffic while taking my children to school in the mornings. I don't know if he was ever a suspect. Perhaps he had a good alibi in Sarasota. It seems strange that they never named her boyfriend who had been with her the night before.
I never heard anything else about them solving the crime. There was an article in the Sentinel on November 10, 1991 (nearly a year later) where it was stated that investigators were still searching for her killer and that detectives had turned up few leads. It was quoted, "We are certainly nowhere near an arrest. Someone out there could make the difference in this situation."
The last article I could find was in the Sentinel on June 2, 1992 where someone had written the paper requesting a follow-up. It stated that investigators had no suspects, but they thought she knew her killer because there were no signs of a struggle. This article quoted the sheriff's spokesman as stating, "Basically, on this one, we're hoping to get a break." It gave a phone number for people to call with any tips and that that a tip from the public might be the only way to solve the case.
I've tried my best to cover most of the information in the Orlando Sentinel's articles. I obtained them through the Orlando Sentinel archives and can email the complete articles to anyone interested.
I think of this case often as I drive by her street nearly every day. How would I go about finding out if this was ever solved or if it is a "cold case"? I've been thinking of writing the Sentinel and requesting a follow-up. I find it very sad to think that someone could get away with this awful crime that deprived her two beautiful children of their mother.
Cheryl Jones' two children, 8 year old Stephen and 6 year old Katherine, woke up on the morning of December 12, 1990 to find that their mother was missing from their Orlando home in the upscale Conway neighborhood where they lived. They phoned their father, Paul Jones, in Sarasota where he had been spending several nights a week on his yacht since the couple's separation four months earlier. He contacted a neighbor who went to the home and helped the children get ready and took them to school where they told officials their mother was missing.
Around 9:30 a.m. that morning her vehicle was found by a neighbor 1/2 mile from her home with blood on the bumper and Cheryl's body in the back seat, covered by a blanket. The subsequent autopsy showed she was killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object.
It was reported that the police believe she was killed in her home the night before while the children were sleeping and then placed in her vehicle which was then moved a few blocks away. They think she knew her attacker because there was no sign of a struggle in the home and neighbors had not heard anything unusual the night before. The neighborhood she lived in was a one street neighborhood with very upscale houses which are close together. Neighbors said that the family's golden retriever dog which stayed outside and was known to bark when disturbed had not made a sound that night. There was no indication of forced entry.
Word got around my children's elementary school quickly and my children were talking about it and pretty upset when I picked them up. It was all over the news that they had found her body. It was reported on the evening local television news the next night and reported in the Orlando Sentinel on December 15th that Cheryl had filed a document on September 28 asking a judge to order her husband out of the house. A copy of the handwritten document was shown on the news. It said, "I want to divorce and my husband won't let me! He has threatened to murder me and now he is mad. He has hit me in the past when gets really angry." Her husband's lawyer had filed a denial, stating that "The husband has never threatened bodily harm to the wife and has never been physically violent to her and never would." He further stated, "Those types of allegations are frequently used in dissolution cases to cause the removal of the husband."
She was killed five weeks before they were scheduled to go to court to conclude their divorce. The couple owned a ceramic tile business in Orlando and were part owners in a ceramic tile business in Sarasota. It said in the paper that Cheryl was seeking title to the two businesses and other assets. Divorce records listed the couple's assets at 1.8 million dollars, including their house in Orlando and their yacht.
It was reported in the Orlando Sentinel that Cheryl had been with a boyfriend the night she was killed. His name was never mentioned in any of the articles.
The children were placed in foster care initially, but then given back to their father. Although I am not certain, I believe he moved back into the family home, because I was often behind him and the children in traffic while taking my children to school in the mornings. I don't know if he was ever a suspect. Perhaps he had a good alibi in Sarasota. It seems strange that they never named her boyfriend who had been with her the night before.
I never heard anything else about them solving the crime. There was an article in the Sentinel on November 10, 1991 (nearly a year later) where it was stated that investigators were still searching for her killer and that detectives had turned up few leads. It was quoted, "We are certainly nowhere near an arrest. Someone out there could make the difference in this situation."
The last article I could find was in the Sentinel on June 2, 1992 where someone had written the paper requesting a follow-up. It stated that investigators had no suspects, but they thought she knew her killer because there were no signs of a struggle. This article quoted the sheriff's spokesman as stating, "Basically, on this one, we're hoping to get a break." It gave a phone number for people to call with any tips and that that a tip from the public might be the only way to solve the case.
I've tried my best to cover most of the information in the Orlando Sentinel's articles. I obtained them through the Orlando Sentinel archives and can email the complete articles to anyone interested.
I think of this case often as I drive by her street nearly every day. How would I go about finding out if this was ever solved or if it is a "cold case"? I've been thinking of writing the Sentinel and requesting a follow-up. I find it very sad to think that someone could get away with this awful crime that deprived her two beautiful children of their mother.