FOUNTAIN, Fla. – Deputies in Bay County say they now know the id of a girl whose physique was present in a shallow grave in 1980 and who probably killed her.
The backstory:
In response to the Bay County Sheriff’s Workplace, three hunters discovered the stays of a girl in a shallow grave in 1980 about half a mile west of Freeway 231, north of Fountain.
Initially, investigators thought the stays could have been JoAnn Benner, who was reported lacking in 1976. Her physique had not been discovered, and foul play was suspected.
The stays had been despatched to the FSU Anthropology lab and examined.
Investigators stated Benner was dominated out as a result of she had accidents that these stays didn’t have.
Foul play was suspected due to the injury performed to the clothes discovered with the skeletal stays.
Whereas reviewing the Benner case and studying in regards to the mysterious skeletal stays, chilly case investigators with BCSO, which incorporates retired investigators and energetic staff, teamed with the Crime Scene Unit to make use of expertise unknown in 1980 to establish the thriller girl.
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Investigators submitted a tooth from the stays to the Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement (FDLE) for a DNA profile. This profile was entered into the Mixed DNA Index System (CODIS).
Investigators stated they acquired two matches. They defined that two individuals in Texas had beforehand submitted DNA as a result of they’d a sister that had been reported lacking.
BCSO stated as soon as there was a match recognized, the Heart for Human Identification performed a kinship evaluation to find out if the stays had been these of a member of the family to the 2 siblings and issued a last report. It acknowledged that the stays belonged to their sister Carol Sue Skidmore, who disappeared in 1977.
Timeline:
In response to BCSO, Carol Skidmore, her husband, James Ronald Skidmore, and her 5-year-old son, Lynn Dale Mahaffy, left their house in Sealy, Texas, to go to James’ dad and mom in Rossville, Georgia in March 1977. They wished to “put their marriage again collectively”.
Investigators stated they left on March 29, 1977, and had been final heard of on April 9, 1977, when Carol Skidmore contacted her dad and mom and advised them she wasn’t certain once they could be again.
In Could 1977, a toddler’s physique was present in Parksville Lake in Tennessee. Investigators stated the boy was a sufferer of murder. The physique, wrapped in plastic and weighed down, appeared to have been in place for a number of weeks.
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In June 1977, the FBI confirmed that the physique was of Carol Skidmore’s son, Lynn Dale Mahaffy.
On June 1, 1977, Carol Skidmore’s husband, James, was discovered lifeless in a resort room in Harrison, Arkansas on account of a drug overdose/suicide. Investigators stated a suicide notice was discovered along with his physique stating, “issues weren’t figuring out for him.”
Courtesy: Bay County Sheriff’s Workplace
Authorities looked for his spouse, Carol Skidmore, with no success. She was listed as lacking.
Investigators consider that James Ronald Skidmore killed Carol Skidmore, burying her physique in a shallow grave in Bay County, and her son, Lynn, leaving his physique in a lake in Tennessee, after which himself.
Investigators contacted Carol Skidmore’s household and although one in all her siblings had handed away, they stated her brother was grateful to get phrase about his sister, to lastly know what occurred to her and have closure.
What they’re saying:
“We are going to by no means cease searching for justice for victims of crime, irrespective of how a lot time could have handed,” stated Sheriff Tommy Ford. “I’m so pleased with our Chilly Case and Crime Scene Items for his or her dedication to search out the reality and produce closure to this household.”
What’s subsequent:
The BCSO Chilly Case Unit and Crime Scene Unit are at present utilizing ancestral DNA to establish a number of units of human stays present in Bay County.
The JoAnn Benner case has progressed and has been turned over to the State Lawyer’s Workplace by the Chilly Case Unit for assessment and potential prosecution.
The Supply: This story was written with info posted by the Bay County Sheriff’s Workplace.
