Posts Tagged ‘ Laquetta Gunther ’

Stacey Gage Latest Victim of a Florida Serial Killer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —

There is a good possibility the Daytona Beach serial killer has struck again. In the most recent case, a woman was found murdered in some Daytona Beach woods.Police were tight-lipped about the murder case for the past week, until late Monday afternoon when they confirmed the woman was likely the victim of a serial killer targeting prostitutes in the city.

Police at the Dayton Beach Police Department said they got the information themselves Monday afternoon. While they can’t say with 100-percent certainty if the serial killer is responsible for the murder, they said everything around the case points in that direction.

The latest victim was identified as 30-year-old Stacey Gage. Her grandmother was the last one to see her, December 10 in nearby Holly Hill, when she said she left to get ice and never returned. Police are looking for the van she was in, a 1998 white Plymouth Voyager.

Police originally stumbled across the body last Wednesday night when an officer noticed a foul smell coming from the woods. By late Friday, they had determined it was a white woman who had been murdered and thought she had been there as long as a month.

Police then wouldn’t say how she was killed and they still aren’t releasing that information, but the police chief talked about the possible connection to the serial killer.

“Based on the limited circumstance there’s a gut feeling this could be connected. Anytime we have a female, it’s the first thing we look at. Could this or could this not be? But I think, if you look at the area, if you look at the facts we know that I can’t release, I kinda feel we may be headed in that direction,” said Chief Mike Chitwood.

Police were able to figure out the victim was Gage through her fingerprints. Police said she didn’t have a criminal record involving prostitution, something previous victims had in common, but she did have a history of drug problems.

Because the information is so new, investigators are in the process of trying to find anyone who knows her, who may have seen her that night or seen the van she was driving.

The other victims of the suspected Daytona Beach serial killer are Julie Green, Laquetta Gunther and Iwana Patton. Green and Gunther were found in December 2005 and Patton was found in February 2006. Police said they believe all three women were killed after accepting rides with a man they didn’t know.

From here

Previous Stories: January 4, 2008: Investigators Tight-Lipped About Woman’s Body Found In Daytona Beach January 3, 2008: Patrolling Officer Discovers Body In Daytona Beach February 23, 2007: Connection Investigated Between Dead Prostitute And Serial Killer April 4, 2006:‘Person Of Interest’ Is Not Daytona Beach Serial Killer March 13, 2006: Volusia County Serial Killer May Be Linked To Flagler County Murders March 3, 2006: String Of Similar Murders Has Some Worried About Serial Killer

 

My last update on the Daytona Serial Killer

It is disturbing how long he has been active.

2011
10/20
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Police Hoping That Familial DNA Can Help Catch Another Serial Killer

Daytona Beach Victims

Daytona Beach’s top cop believes new DNA technology will help his department catch the serial killer who has eluded police since 2005.

Familial DNA has helped police in California nab the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer.

He was called that because he lay dormant in between murders for 18 years.

“We’re extremely interested in this because of our serial killer. Our serial killer may have an offspring, which is in the database,” said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood.

Police in California had DNA of the Grim Sleeper in a nationwide database.

The killer is responsible for the deaths of 10 women dating back to the 1980s.

New software emerged that tracks DNA of the killer’s family members, in this case his son, who was arrested on an unrelated crime.

Investigators used the information and followed the father, Lonnie Franklin, 57.

They took a DNA sample from pizza Franklin had recently eaten, made the exact match and then arrested the former garage attendant.

The Daytona Beach serial killer left behind DNA samples inside three of the four women he raped and killed.

The first was Laquetta Gunther, 45, who’s body was found on Beach Street on Dec. 26, 2005.

On Jan. 14, 2006, the body of Julie Green, 34, was found in a construction site off of LPGA Boulevard.

Iwanna Patton, 35, was found on Williamson Boulevard six weeks later on Feb. 24.

The killer then laid dormant for two years.

Twenty-year-old Stacey Gage’s body turned up Jan. 2, 2008 in a wooded area on Hancock Boulevard.

The DNA sample was turned over to Florida Department of Law Enforcement where it waits for a perfect match.

But Chitwood wants to use familial DNA to track down the serial killer’s family members, which in turn could lead back to the killer.

However, familial DNA is only approved in states like California, Colorado, and recently in Virginia. It has been used in Great Britain for several years.

Chitwood is working with the State Attorney’s Office, who is trying to convince both the state attorney general, as well as Gov. Rick Scott to sign off on it for use in Florida.

The police chief said familial DNA would only be used in major crimes, like the serial killer case.

He believes that if approved, it could be in use within a year.

Chitwood said the person who came up with the software is making it available to FDLE for free.

But he said the clock is ticking.

“You have a killer on the loose who has killed four women, who is not gonna stop,” Chitwood said. “We may be in a cooling off period here. But if we have learned anything in the history of this country with serial killers, they’ll continue until they get caught.”

Source

I am all for the use of familial DNA especially in cases involving serial crimes. I do not know why people worry so much about using it. It helped to catch the Grim Sleeper, Lonnie Franklin and DNA has helped to link unknown victims to their killers. I think we need to give law enforcement all the help that we can.

2011
04/20
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Daytona Beach Serial Killings 5 Years Later: Unsolved.

Daytona Beach Victims

A message, written in black marker on the wall of one of the buildings, reads: “2/2010 Mom, you are missed, Love, Nikki.”
It could have been written for either Laquetta Gunther or Julie Green.

Laquetta Gunther, a 45-year-old construction day laborer and occasional prostitute was killed first. Her body was found on 12/26/2005 and she was last seen 12/24/2005 at Chubby’s bar at 650 N. Beach St.

Laquetta Mae Gunther

Her body was discovered stuffed between the two buildings in a space not even 3 feet wide. She had been shot in the head, execution-style, with a .40-caliber bullet. A passerby found her half-nude corpse between the two buildings across the street from the former Chubby’s.

Over the next two months, two more women met a similar fate.

Then there was the shooting of 34-year-old Julie Green in January 2006 and 35-year-old Iwana Patton in February of that year. Green and Patton were also shot in the head with a .40-caliber weapon and both were naked as well when they were found.
Julie Green
Iwana Patton

The suspect also left behind an unmistakable calling card. His semen was on both Gunther and Green, police said.

Stacey Gage, 30 years old, was found two years later in January 2008. She had been shot in the head in a wooded area near a former church off Hancock Boulevard. Investigators have never said whether the caliber of weapon used on Gage was a .32-, a .40-, or a .45-caliber gun. But Police Chief Mike Chitwood has repeatedly said that Gage’s death was “eerily similar” to the other three.

Stacey Gage

There was no DNA found on Gage’s nude body because she had been exposed to the elements for about a month before she was discovered by a Daytona Beach policeman on patrol.

Although the killer’s DNA is stored in a database kept by the FBI, it has not yet matched others kept in the national listing.
Florida did begin testing many men arrested but no leads have come from that yet.

On Christmas Eve night this year and every year since Gunther was murdered, her friend, Stacey Dittmer has held a candlelight vigil at the murder site with people who knew Gunther. This year, Gunther’s 70-year-old mother, Barbara Rurak, planned to join the group.

In a telephone interview this week from her home in Sarasota, Rurak asked the same question everyone here is asking: “Is anything being done?”

While the time has passed, none of the women is forgotten. Dittmer planned to make a poster with the names of all the murder victims so she could leave it at the site where Gunther was shot.

Full Story

Chronology and a lot of information.

December 26, 2005: Body of Laquetta Gunther is found.

January 14, 2006: The body of Julie Green is found.

February 24, 2006: The body of Iwana Patton is found.

March 10, 2006: Daytona Beach Police and State of Florida investigators announce the three women were likely the victims of a serial killer.

April 21 2006: Police confirm the collection of DNA from several “persons of interest.”

April 22, 2006: Local police confirm that police officers were questioned in the slayings.

June 10, 2006: Police arrest David Gibson Lindsay on an unrelated warrant.

June 20, 2006: DNA evidence excludes David Gibson Lindsay as a suspect.

December 10, 2007: Stacey Gage is last seen alive.

January 2, 2008: The body of Stacey Gage is found.

January 23, 2008: Authorities announce that the murder of Stacey Gage is connected to the previous three homicides.

An article on the DNA testing to try to find the killer.

Reported drug connection. IMO, a bit unlikely.

VBullitan Forum with links and info.

2010
12/27
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Death
Forensics
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Serial Killers
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