GUILTY FL - Fred Laster, 16, found dismembered, Lake City, 5 June 1994 *youth pastor arrest*

carbuff said:

Though a sexual murder is possible, the details you describe seem a bit more oriented toward making identification possible. Especially the (possible) removal of tattoos or other identifying marks.

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I definitely believe that this murder was to make it impossible for someone to identify this person. Now that you mention it, wouldn't someone want to have the perp identified if this was a sexual murder if in fact the victim was a rapist? Like show an example, in their eyes, of what happens to rapists? I'm not sure...

Wow! What an update.

If this guy has skin cut off where the tattoo would have been, wouldn't it still be somewhat easy to pair him with somebody if he is listed as missing? For example: if he had skin cut off on his right shoulder and lower left thigh.....couldn't you compare him to a missing person that was reported to have a tattoo on his right shoulder and left thigh? Just a thought.

Thanks for the update.

Guys, I have removed a couple of posts regarding the alert. The original post ID'd a confidential source.

rollinginit said:

Wow! What an update.

If this guy has skin cut off where the tattoo would have been, wouldn't it still be somewhat easy to pair him with somebody if he is listed as missing? For example: if he had skin cut off on his right shoulder and lower left thigh.....couldn't you compare him to a missing person that was reported to have a tattoo on his right shoulder and left thigh? Just a thought.

Thanks for the update.

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@Beach...thank you for removing those postings. The source wished to not be identified until after these leads go through.

And Rollinginit, you may be on to something there. I have yet to determine exactly where the skin was cut, but I will find out as soon as I get the police report and some more information from the informant. Thank you for submitting that. I can tell you right now with the leads we have, we know for certain this can only get hotter and intense. As I keep letting everyone who reads my postings know, blow up the news media and tell them about this case. I just alerted every major TV outlet in North Florida from Gainesville to Jacksonville...This case may get the attention it deserves. If someone knows how we can get in contact with John Walsh from America's Most Wanted, that would be appreciated as well.

Today I have alerted the news media in Jacksonville, Gainesville and a local paper in Lake City via email. I think that with the small bit of infromation that has been received in the last day or two, I can assume that this will be a big story. I have not heard back from them, but the news stations I contacted were:

WJXT-Channel 4 (Jacksonville, Lake City)
First Coast News Ch. 12 and 17 (Jacksonville, Lake City, Brunswick GA)
WCJB TV-20 (Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Live Oak)
Lake City Journal (Lakecityjournal.com)

I encourage you all to look them up and hold their feet to the fire and demand that this story is published. This is a new lead for this independent case, and a good chance someone may know something surrounding the events of this murder.

Will be looking for any local news report.

Jason, I also wish you all the best with the media. I still keep searching.....the sad thing is...there are so many freaking many of them. That's the bad thing about web sleuths. It makes you realize this world is a very scary place.

I agree rollinginit....this world is dangerous. You know, I did get an interesting tip today. Someone I live with pointed out that perhaps this could have been a brutal killing directed by the cult-ish church Meade Ministries. MM, or also known as The Endtimers, were known to be ruthless people when it came to breaking the church rules, which meant expulsion and shunning. But a local reporter dug so dangerously deep on the religion, it was suspected that the church sent people to kill her dogs, in which she found her dogs and puppies decapitated on her lawn the next day....I never drew any connections to them on this case, but you can never be certain. http://www.rickross.com/groups/endtimes.html is the link to learn more on the Endtimers. Although it is a theory, I honestly don't think that we should draw a connection to this church, but you can't anything out.

I thought you might find this Detroit case interesting: MI MI - Sterling Heights - Body Parts Found in Sewer - Aug'12 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

I don't imagine it's directly related to your case, but the tattoos being removed caught my eye.

Hello fellow sleuthers:

As we all are aware, it is now time to put pressure on the press in North Florida in regards to this case. I hope that you are all sending emails and telling them that this case needs revisiting to the general public! I want to thank the 5,000+ visits to this forum and the active participation thus far.

Right now, we have no change in the case, however on Friday I am hoping to collect a police report of the incident and perhaps make that information available to everyone. I am still staying motivated to this case and am not letting my guard down whatsoever!

The website I am working on right now will be online before midnight or sometime after. I will post a link to the site, and also will create a "LIKE" page on Facebook. After I publish this, I will post all links to the sites, and I encourage you all to like the page and share it with friends. We need this case to go viral!

Again, thank you all for the continued support! Please let me know if anyone hears anything or has done something to further the investigation.

FACEBOOK/WEBSITE NOW ONLINE AND RUNNING!!!

Hey everyone:

Just letting you all know now that the website and Facebook "Like" Page is up and running. there is enough info to get your standings on the site, but the site is still under construction and so is the page. Go to the following links to access them:

WEBSITE: www.lakecityjohndoe.webs.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Identify-Lake-Citys-FL-John-Doe/100565416768194

Please visit them and TELL YOUR FRIENDS about this! TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

CCSO REFUSES TO HELP; MEDICAL EXAMINERS OFFICE CONTACTED FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE!

In a rather ridiculous twist today, the Columbia County Sheriffs Office has refused to give me the documents, including police report, to me because the case is still an open homicide. Here is what was emailed to me today by LArry Auger, Excecutive Assistant to the Sheriff:

"Mr. Futch: I just finished speaking to the Captain in Detectives referencing this case. Because it is an open homicide case no information is available for release to the public.
Larry

Frankly, I find this unacceptable because this is a 20-year-old case. By now you would think that the info would be open to the public so they could get more leads! So right now ladies and gentlemen, CCSO does not want to help us out...technically saying we are on our own! And afterwards, I called the informant, only for him to hang up on me.

Now there is more hope. I will be speaking with the medical examiner who has been on this case since day 1, whose name is Jeff Brokaw, a medical examiner from District 4 ME's office in Jacksonville, FL. He should be able to provide more information. If he can't...we need to put pressure on ALL agencies. I won't back down.

As for the press, keep pressing them. Also add my like page on Facebook and share! Share the website as well...its time this case went public!

Jason, if your focus is solving a murder, then the cops will not release details to the public as that might taint a possible criminal trial. LE cannot release files like this to citizens upon request.

if your focus was on trying to identify the deceased, a polite request to the medical examiner's office might, and I say might, have yielded a better result. some members here have had some luck getting the medical examiner's or prosecutors to release a few more tidbits about the deceased but not necessarily the details of the crime. I doubt the ME's office is going to give you any information now that you have been flatly refused by LE.

apparently someone, your "informant", tried to help you in some way but for reasons uncertain (although having his name and/or the details of what he told you plastered on these pages might have something to do with it) he is now hanging up on you.

may I suggest you try to get a local paper interested in the story? sometimes experienced journalists have a way of getting information from "anonymous sources" with the promise that they will not be identified.

webrocket said:

Jason, if your focus is solving a murder, then the cops will not release details to the public as that might taint a possible criminal trial. LE cannot release files like this to citizens upon request.

if your focus was on trying to identify the deceased, a polite request to the medical examiner's office might, and I say might, have yielded a better result. some members here have had some luck getting the medical examiner's or prosecutors to release a few more tidbits about the deceased but not necessarily the details of the crime. I doubt the ME's office is going to give you any information now that you have been flatly refused by LE.

apparently someone, your "informant", tried to help you in some way but for reasons uncertain (although having his name and/or the details of what he told you plastered on these pages might have something to do with it) he is now hanging up on you.

may I suggest you try to get a local paper interested in the story? sometimes experienced journalists have a way of getting information from "anonymous sources" with the promise that they will not be identified.

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Thanks webrocket for the comments. But the main goal is identification at this time. This is my main goal, no more no less. We need a name so we can go from there. As soon as this victim is identified, then we can figure out the person who did it.

LE only refused to give me the police report. What I will ask of the ME tomorrow is information that is available to the public, but needs to be information that is not found online. I do not want to give up on this and I won't.

I have contacted Editor Robert Bridges of the Lake City Reporter and hope to hear from him soon. As for the informant, he did not know of the name leak, but I believe he refused to help me because I don't think he wanted to go through that again, as it could have perhaps been a little traumatic?

But I need everyone's help. I cannot do this alone. We need pressure on the LE, ME, and all media in the North Florida region....otherwise we won't get any further than what we have now.

however difficult it might seem that this case has gone unsolved for so long, keep in mind that across the country local governments are strapped for case and they have to prioritize their use of resources.

it is no secret that fresh crimes take priority in any jurisidiction,sometimes just getting someone to look at an old file is a chore. however gruesome this crime was, apparently, and I say apparently since I do not live in your area, no crime like this has been repeated. so it is not like they have a serial killer to contend with.

I agree webrocket. For as long as I have been researching cases in the area, this is the first mutilation case the CCSO or the Lake City Police Dept. has taken. LCPD has not played a great role in this investigation, although my friend who is a fellow sleuther on the case and a former lake city Police officer, spoke to the C.O.P during that discovery, and she said all he saw was the report and photographs and that he wouldn't be much help.

I definitely know we do not have a serial killer on our hands. We more or less, have someone, or a couple of people, who are mentally deranged. CCSO has only a few homicide investigations open, and this is one of them. The latest one that is open is a robbery that ended in the murder of a store clerk.

So we got our work cut out.

This afternoon, while I was in Lake City meeting with my fellow sleuther, Shea Brown, I recieved a call from the Medical Examiner District 4's office which is also the office of Jeff Brokaw, who has been working on this case as well since day 1. However, he was not able to release any information as to what could be helpful to the case. He did, however, thank the Websleuth community for assisting in the case. He states that under the state law, open homicides are considered classified as far as obtaining reports go.

As we take this in, Shea and I received some new information in regards to the existence of crime scene photos. The Florida Gateway College Olustee Training Facility has used the crime scene photos for the trainees to observe and make conclusions of their own. Normally, a story from the instructor follows. We did receive the name of the instructor, whose name I will not release. Shea and I are working on meeting with the instructor and checking to see if we will be able to view them. The only reason Shea and I wish to view them is so that we can judge whether or not the marks were skid marks or some sick way of removing possible tattoos; and also make sure we have an accurate picture of what happened.

I will be releasing some articles I discovered on Microfilm tomorrow, as it is too much to type up this late. However, there was an interesting article I saw in regards to other mutilation cases similar to this case. But I will update later.

As for now, sleep well everyone and have a good night.

Man's head, hands and legs were severed
By Ed Kuhn, News Editor

Many years working as a nurse were not enough to prepare Rebecca Hunt for the grisly scene she spotted while walking her dog Sunday morning near a service station north of Lake City.
Approaching a large, metal trash container near a wooded area, Hunt saw what resembled the torso of a man on the ground behind it. She thought it was a mannequin, but she became suspicious and reported her find to service station workers.
They called the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and a short time later, Hunt's suspicions were confirmed.
Investigators found the torso of a white male--hands, head and legs missing--but as of this morning still had not identified the remains, nor determined either a cause or motive for the death. Investigators believe the body was dumped at the site in the early morning hours Sunday.
Hunt made her macabre discovery about 9:30am Sunday at a BP service station on US Highway 441 and Interstate 10, where her car had been towed for repair work. She was headed north from her home in Naples, to visit her friends in her hometown of, coincidentally, Lake City, Pennsylvania.
"I was walking my dog and I looked over and saw that thing." Hunt said, a grimace on her face, "I didn't think it was real. I'm a nurse, I've seen some pretty awful things, but I've never seen anything like this. It's too weird. What a world."
Shortly before 1pm, Hunt climbed back into her car to resume the trip, sipping a complimentary cup of coffee offered by service station personnel. As she drove away, CCSO Investigators were sifting through the trash container, removing items and placing them in large paper bags. Among the items found were a pair of trouser legs, shirt and shoes. Major Doyle Rooks, who was directing the investigation, said Sunday little is known concerning the case at this point. A press release issued late Sunday by the CCSO said assistance is being sought from other law enforcement agencies and from the public.
"The identity of the victim is unknown at this time and surrounding agencies have been notified. inquiring about any missing persons recently reported that so that identification can be made as soon as possible," the Press Release stated.
Anyone having knowledge of, or information about the incident is asked to call the CCSO.

NOTE: Notice anything new?

Venturing outside of the box:

I've seen a few instances where the Report date was confused for the Date of Last Contact, and the missing person was listed as last seen alive on a date after the date his/her body was found.

Based on that possibility, here's a possible from Saraland AL.

Michael Allen Wright

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wright_michael.html
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/2355/0

Saraland AL is about 350 miles from Lake City FL, and a straight shot down I-10. ... and he had a tattoo on his left shoulder.

According to Charley Project, His friends reported that they last saw him on June 24, 1994 (19 days after the body was found). But it also says that he had been staying with them for about two weeks before he disappeared. If we assume for the sake of argument that they were the perps, perhaps they reported seeing him two weeks after the murder to throw LE off the trail.

But still no identification
By Joe Callahan
Reporter Staff Writer

A mutilated body found behind a dumpster north of Lake City may belong to a teenager who was killed about 6 hours before it was discovered 18 days ago.
Authorities still haven't identified the torso--which was missing the head, hands and legs--but a forensic anthropologist believes the remains belong to a white male in his upper teens.
"Though the Medical Examiner's Office said the age range was 15 to 25 years old, we have other information that leads us to believe he was in the low range of that estimate," said Columbia County Sheriff Tom Tramel. Tramel was speaking on information supplied by forensic anthropologist Dr. William Maples. "Dr. Maples believes the man was 17 or 18."
Tramel also said the man could have been killed at the scene of the macabre discovery made June 5th, despite his office's initial suspicion that the man wasn't killed at the scene.
"He could have been killed in a vehicle parked at the scene and then dumped," said Tramel, referring to an area by a dumpster behind the BP service station on US 441 at the Interstate 10 overpass.
Toxicology reports also reveal the man had no drugs or alcohol in the small amount of blood found inside the torso.
"There were traces of cold medication like Alka-Seltzer Plus," Tramel said. "Medical officials also found a very small mole on the torso, located just above the naval and just below the rib cage."
Tramel said the torso belonged to a man who was between 5'8" and 6'0" with a weight of 180-200 pounds.
Two retired FBI agents arrived in Lake City Wednesday to help complete a profile of a possible suspect and the victim to be placed on computer at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.
Called Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP), the computer houses case information of nationwide unsolved brutal crimes for research to help find possible patterns of criminal conduct.
The officers, who work for the Marion County (Ocala, FL) Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Ken Ergle, retired from the FBI's behavior science unit.
They are top-notched agents who will help us narrow down the field of possible victims and suspects," Tramel said. "I really appreciate Sheriff Ken Ergle for his help."
Tramel said nationwide teletypes have been sent to all law enforcement agencies in hopes "that similar cases or crimes" can be discovered.
Despite all the vital parts of the body needed for identification are missing, it doesn't necessarily mean the killer didn't want the body identified, Tramel said.
"That could have been the furthest thing from his/her mind," Said Tramel.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has also been contacted to look into possible missing persons in South Georgia because of the close proximity of the death to the disposal.
"We feel if he wasn't killed at the scene, then he was killed within a six hours drive of Lake City," Tramel said. "That's why we decided to seek help from the GBI."
The body was found at 9:30AM by a woman as she walked her dog after her vehicle was towed to the station after breaking down on I-10. For hours after the discovery, investigators sifted through the dumpster for evidence.
After nearly three weeks of searching, the missing body parts still have not been located.

NOTE: Big possibilities, just in the article alone!