FL FL - Pamela Ray, 36, Panama City, Aug 1992

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Bree0372

Bree0372

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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/ray_pamela.html

Ray drove from her residence in Atlanta, GA to Panama City, FL during the early morning hours of August 12, 1992. She was accompanied by her two young children at the time. Ray was not able to locate a vacant motel room upon their arrival at approximately 3:30am. She parked her vehicle in the parking lot of the former Wilhite Apartments complex on Front Beach Road for the remainder of the night. Ray was spotted by 7 witnesses at the complex, including 2 police officers. She locked her car and left her children asleep in the back seat at approximately 5:30am. She also left her purse and keys behind in the vehicle. She walked from the apartment lobby to the swimming pool area at that time and was apparently followed by an unidentified Caucasian male. The same man had been seen earlier in the morning as he urinated in public in Panama City. Witnesses heard a female screaming for help from the vicinity of the pool at the same time Ray walked towards the area. She has never been seen again.
 
BUMP

Pamela has been missing 18 years today. Come home soon.
 
I wonder what happened to her children? 20 years is a long time. Why was she in Florida? It doesn't sound like this man had a car-I really wonder where she is.
 
scriptgirl said:
I wonder what happened to her children? 20 years is a long time. Why was she in Florida? It doesn't sound like this man had a car-I really wonder where she is.
Click to expand...

She was on Unsolved Mysteries a while back: Pamela Ray - YouTube

Apparently she was going from motel to motel looking for a room. People heard her screams, but since the apartments didn't have phones and cell phones weren't around much, nobody was able to call the police.
 
This case has always stuck with me because I was on vacation in Panama City Beach when it happened.

Pam had made informal arrangements with someone at the Wilhite Motel to leave a key in a designated spot for her to pick up when she got there because it would be in the wee hours and the office would be closed. When she got there, the kids were asleep in the car, and she got out to get the key and was taken.

This was a common practice at this time in the mom and pop type motels of which the Wilhite was one. My husband and I arrived at a different one on our wedding night only to find no key and the office closed after the same type arrangements had been made.

Pam's daughter posted a few times on another forum(can I say which one?). She stated that she and her brother don't remember much about that morning and that law enforcment believes that the person that took their mother is in prison on other charges and will never be free. She said they are satisfied this person is guilty but there is not enough evidence to bring charges.
 
Was this the same man who urinated publicly-I just don't get it-no one heard a car, so where did this man take her? How does law enforcement know this is the right guy?
 
Don't know the answer to either of those questions. Only what I said about him being in prison. It was storming that morning. I remember that well- storming and police cars everywhere. The noise of the storm would have drowned out most noise.
 
Why did she get out of the car and start talking to the guy? This is per the LEO's eyewitness report. Did he offer to direct her to the motel office and that's why she followed him in the parking lot?

I don't see anything in the Unsolved Mysteries report that she got out to retrieve a key, on the contrary it said she had stopped at several motels and could not get a room and then stopped at the motel her car was found at. I find it unbelievable that none of the rooms had phones in them. That is bizzare. I've been to PCB and stayed at a motel when I was a college student in Tallahassee and can say the motels I stayed at had phones in 1983.

Something that I can see as a possibility is that this man followed her from one of the other motels after noticing her trying to find a room. If she was killed he could have put her in his car and that is why she was not found in that location.
 
UM actually filmed the segment at the Wilhite. So you are seeing where she disappeared from. She had to get out of the car to get the key from where it was supposed to be.

There has been a lot of talk back and forth about it being said there were no phones in the rooms at the Wilhite. I don't know. But what does it matter if she never actually got into a room?

No one knows what this man told her. I have always felt like her disappearance was the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
Those small apartment-type motels where people stay for longer sometimes don't have phones. We stayed at one in the Palm Beach area only about 10 years ago that didn't have them.

The significance is apparently nobody was able to call for help because of no phones. Or that was the excuse, anyway.
 
Kimster said:
I'm trying to find a pic of the motel. Killarney rose, are any of these pics from the motel? Google landed me there, but they are labeled that I can see.

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blo...captures-the-charms-of-abandoned-motel-pools/
Click to expand...



No, I don't think so. I just googled images and funny- I got a pic of the one that left us w/o a key all those years ago, and one that used to be close to the Wilhite. I'll keep looking.

Here is the link to the thread at the Unsolved Mysteries forum. It's long , but it's the one where Pam's daughter posted a few times.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=258312&highlight=pamela+june+ray


If you watch the Unsolved Mysteries segment on her, it was actually filmed at the Wilhite. The office was a small building out in the middle of the parking lot, with a row of rooms along the perimeter of the lot.
 
That is some interesting information and only makes me want this case completely closed all the more! :yow:
 
killarney rose said:
This case has always stuck with me because I was on vacation in Panama City Beach when it happened.

Pam had made informal arrangements with someone at the Wilhite Motel to leave a key in a designated spot for her to pick up when she got there because it would be in the wee hours and the office would be closed. When she got there, the kids were asleep in the car, and she got out to get the key and was taken.

This was a common practice at this time in the mom and pop type motels of which the Wilhite was one. My husband and I arrived at a different one on our wedding night only to find no key and the office closed after the same type arrangements had been made.

Pam's daughter posted a few times on another forum(can I say which one?). She stated that she and her brother don't remember much about that morning and that law enforcment believes that the person that took their mother is in prison on other charges and will never be free. She said they are satisfied this person is guilty but there is not enough evidence to bring charges.
Click to expand...

Pam is one of 17 unsolved missing or murdered cases in Panama City. As you said LE believes the man responsible for her disappearance is in prison. They believe he is a serial killer. The man seen urinating in public was likely not involved. Our bars can stay open until 4 am and it is likely he was drunk. It is difficult to get much info on this case other than what is on the missing websites. Do you know the name of the suspect in prison? I have often wondered if he was just passing thru or lived in the area. Panama City does not want it to get out that a serial killer may have been on the prowl here as we are a tourist town. Rapes are also kept quiet though they are a common occurance, especially during Spring Break.
Joanne Benner went missing in 1976, Viviane Edwards in 1983 though her body was later found in nearby Fort Walton, and Elizabeth Prescott went missing in 2004. I would like to know who the suspect is in prison to see if he matches up to being in this area at those times.

Here is a link to the unsolved local cases:
http://pcstips.com/Unsolved.aspx?PageNum=1
 
Wow that's very interesting. I can understand why they wouldn't want this information to get out.

There has also been another woman gone missing from there in the last 6-8 years. I can't remember her name. I remember seeing the missing posters here where I live. She was in her late 50s-early 60s.

No name was given about who the person in prison might be. Over on the Unsolved Mysteries board, one member seriously speculated it could have been Oba Chandler. The key word there is speculate. There is no evidence. We just discussed the possibility of that.
 
I am another that believes she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. No phones in the rooms doesn't bother me-I am sure there was a payphone around and we have to remember it was one of those small family run motels--no luxuries, just the necessities. I often traveled with my children, alone, during the night, at this same time period. The kids would sleep the majority of the trip and I could get there faster without having to make multiple stops for bathroom breaks, food, etc. I have family and friends who still do the same today! I think the mystery man acted like he worked there and lured her with the story that he was going to open up a room for her--unfortunately for her he was just an opportunist that took advantage of a tired and possibly naive mom who wanted to get her kids into a room for the rest of their getaway!
 
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