I am finally here, now that I have time, to go over some things that I discovered on this case, thanks to the local newspapers. Because the information I am about to present is public information, there will be some name drops here. Also, I think its very imperative for the Lake City locals to understand the crime that occurred over thirty years ago; as more people are forgetting about it.
With that said, last week after getting off work, I drove to the Florida Gateway College library; where they possess the microfilm for the Lake City Reporter. I began to do some digging, going back to the November 3rd, 1988 edition. There, it discussed the discovery of an unidentified girl that was found on I-10. She was located about a mile East of the Lake City/White Springs exit by a truck driver named Aaron Dale Stokes of Lake Butler. He worked for the LJ Kennedy Trucking company and was heading to New York State for an assignment.
Though at the time Mr. Stokes was unavailable for comment, his daughter discussed the events to the Reporter. She stated that her father told her the body was still warm and that initially he thought it was a dog and ended up swerving the truck around it. He had also checked for a pulse; but there was none. Another truck driver named George Champion of Maxville, FL also pulled over and was able to get to a phone at the Munchies gas station off the highway. When Florida Highway Patrol and the Columbia County Sheriffs Office got there, it was sometime before 9:30pm. The road had been closed down for most of the night while investigators pieced everything together.
What was discovered was that there were two pools of blood about a dozen feet apart on the Eastbound section of I-10. The girl had been found bleeding from the face and that she was wearing a pink sweater, green t-shirt and pink corduroy pants.
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The next day's edition of the Lake City Reporter declared that the search was on for Detra McGuire, the child's mother (who at this point, the child's name was Roshanda McGuire). It appears very early into this investigation, Detra was not considered a suspect in this case. Based on information from the police reports and the news paper, there appeared to be signs of foul play early on.
It wasn't until days later that her car was found at the L&G Truck Stop around 11:30pm that Friday in Ellisville, Florida (in the southern part of Columbia County, just 15 miles south of Lake City). It was a 1988 black Nissan Sentra. The paper identified it as Detra's, until an article the next week posted a photograph of the car with baby booties hanging from the rear-view mirror, revealing the car to belong to Elara Murphy, Detra's boyfriend.
It was also revealed that Detra lived at the Gatorwood Apartments, which is off U.S. 90 on the west side of Lake City. She was 5'7" and weighed about 135 lbs. The paper also stated shed was wearing a grey sweatshirt, jeans and bedroom slippers when she left with Roshanda on her ill-fated trip.
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When the paper came out releasing a photo of the car, it was revealed Elara Murphy was the owner of the car and had been living with Detra at the Gatorwood Apartments. He did not know where she was, nor what had happened to the baby when she was thrown out of the vehicle the night Mr. Stokes found Roshanda. Then after that, there was no more real coverage about the case in the newspaper until about a month later, when Lake City Councilman Glenel Bowden began to raise questions about how the sheriffs office was handling the cases involving African American missing and murdered in the county. Detra and Roshanda's case was one of a few cases that occurred in 1988 that hit the African American community. The others involved:
* Lavern Mack, a 26 year old woman who went missing in August 1987. Her skeletal remains were recovered near I-10 in April 1988. It was determined she died from homicidal violence.
* Leroy Mills, a 72 year old man, was reported missing in March of 1988. His wallet was found in a dumpster the day after he was reported missing. I am still unsure of the status of the investigation; however, I will attempt contact with the Lake City Police Department soon.
* Pamela Gamble's body was found near Bunn Road and Tustenugee road by the I-75 overpass in August of 1988.
Of the cases mentioned, the McGuire case and those of Mack and Gamble are STILL unsolved. As mentioned, I'll attempt an update on the Mills case later.
Glenel Bowden wrote a letter to the FDLE, asking for them to investigate the cases. He accused the CCSO of not paying attention to the situation, and then accused Sheriff Tom Tramel of implementing "systematic racism". Though Sheriff Tramel vehemently denied any kind of system playing, the FDLE decided to get involved. However....After the paper publicized the political discussion concerning the cases, that's where the discussions ended in the paper.
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PERSONAL THOUGHTS: I am happy to be able to publish additional information to this case. Its been a case I've followed for a long time. I know the family of Ms. McGuire have been very adamant about wanting to forget this case, but unfortunately, forgetting this case means no justice for her or the baby. It's a rare event that I don't honor the wishes of the family; but in this case I've made heavy exceptions with no regrets.
I personally think someone knows what happened and what led up to the events of this case. I think they still live in Columbia County and walk among us. Detra would be in her fifties today if she was still alive. I am also aware that she had another daughter who is still living in Lake City.
Based on what I've read over the years, her boyfriend has never been labeled a person of interest in this case. And there haven't been further leads. But I've always been asking myself: Is there a reason, other than grief, why the McGuire's don't want to see justice in her case? Do they know who did it? Big questions I've always asked myself.
