FL FL - Christine Flahive, 42, Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, 4 Jan 1995

[cybervampira]

New witness leads detectives to suspect a killer is on the loose

Christine was last seen on Jan. 4 1995. Detectives said she went to her father’s house for a visit. Shortly after that, he dropped her off at her home, which is a couple of blocks from downtown Punta Gorda.

A detective said they believe she was heading downtown to a bar she often frequented. It has since changed names and owners.

Despite the best efforts of her family and law enforcement, Christine was never seen again after that night.

Her father has since passed away and her daughter relocated to New York. But the mystery remains in this small town. Detectives said, there is a good chance her killer is still here, too.

Now, detectives are asking for your help, to bring justice more than two decades later. They believe locals may have the answers they need.



Charlotte missing persons case now considered a homicide

COLD CASE: New information obtained as a 42-year-old woman is still missing in Charlotte County

 

[cybervampira]

Charlotte County Sheriff's Office

Members of the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Cold Case and Major Crimes Unit are working with the Peace River K-9 Search and Rescue Association. Cadaver dog search teams are searching a heavily wooded area south of Henry Street and east of Rollins Street near the area of Education Avenue in Punta Gorda. This area is behind the Charlotte Behavioral Health Care on Education Avenue.
This search is the result of information recently obtained by the Cold Case Unit concerning very suspicious circumstances involving a 42 year old female that was reported missing several years ago.
The missing person, Christine Flahive, was reported missing by her father on January 5, 1995.
We have determined that around the time Christine was reported missing she was at a residence very near the area currently being searched.

 

[dotr]

rbbm
https://www.winknews.com/2019/01/19/k9-units-search-for-possible-gravesite-punta-gorda-cold-case/
"His team’s mobile lab is set up on the land near where a tipster said Flahive was seen before she disappeared.

Cadaver dogs are equipped with GPS trackers sending back real-time data.


“They’re looking for any odor of human remains,” Hadsell said. In a case this old, we’re looking for vegetation changes, looking for changes in the soil, things that would indicate that a clandestine grave was there.”


Any site could be Flahive’s, so the investigators test the soil.


“It turns a bright color, red or pink,” Hadsell said. “And if it does then we know that we have a gravesite that’s active.”

If the tests get positive results, the team goes back to the site and dig.

“If we get to where we’re finding bones then the forensic team takes over when it becomes a crime scene,” Hadsell said."

 

[dotr]

Jan 21 2019
https://www.winknews.com/2019/01/21/new-search-area-for-punta-gorda-woman-missing-since-1995/
"Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said it can’t reveal where the new tips in the case are coming from. Detectives said it’s too soon to know if their new leads are credible.

“It’s hard to say on a lead,” Vogel said. “You gather information from whatever source you can. You try to vet as much as you can the individual that gives you the lead. It may or may not be credible. As a cold case, you have to do your due diligence. And there’s really no need you can’t follow in a cold case.”

The beginning of the reopened cold case began with a new tip just days after the anniversary of Flahive’s disappearance from Punta Gorda in 1995 when she was 42.

The search led detectives to the former home of Phillip Barr, the man accused of killing Tara Sidarovich in 2001.

Phillip Barr is serving a life sentence for the murder of Sidarovich when she was 19 years old.

WINK News asked if Barr is suspected in Flahive’s disappearance and potential murder, but detectives said they can’t reveal that information but do have persons of interest in the case."

 

[dotr]

Jan 28 2019
https://www.winknews.com/2019/01/28/authorities-hunt-for-dna-evidence-to-close-a-cold-case/
"As crews seek to bring closure to a family after more than two decades, they are finding their work to identify the victim increasingly tricky. But an expert said DNA testing might lead authorities to a solution.

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Detective Kurt Mehl, along with search crews, is not giving up on that cold case that occurred 24-years ago. They are searching for answers to find Christine Flahive’s killer.

With new tips, authorities have gone deep into the woods, searching for signs of human remains and collecting evidence to send for testing.

“We have some soil samples,” said Mehl at the search scene.
You see how it’s turning pink?” Berthie Lebrun, a senior at FGCU, said in a lab about the samples. “This would definitely say that you have blood.”

But in such a dated case, using blood evidence to confirm it is Flahive’s isn’t an option.

“The basic problem is going to be finding that bone,” said Dr. Sulekha Coticone, chair of the Department of Chemistry & Physics at FGCU, “and then actually extracting that DNA.”

 

[cybervampira]

Video at link.

Search resumes for missing Charlotte woman after weather delays

The search is back on to find a Charlotte County woman at the center of a 24-year cold case.

[...]

"In colder climates, you don't really need the forensic anthropologists as much because that cold climate is going to work to preserve the soft tissue," FGCU Forensic Anthropologist Heather Walsh-Haney said.

Peace River K9 Search and Rescue volunteers are also sniffing through any digs.

Gandy said the Unit had found some items of interest that will need to be tested off-site.

"If we do it at a private lab, that is a charge. And that comes out of the Sheriff's budget."

County taxpayers fund that budget.

He said private labs could cost anywhere between $500 and $1,200 per sample unless they're tested by FDLE or the FBI, which doesn't come out of the Sheriff's Office budget.

Crews are still optimistic in finding Flahive's remains.

"If I didn't think that human remains associated with a 25-year-old cold case could be discovered, I wouldn't be here," Walsh-Haney said.

The plan is to still return to the site off of Education Avenue once investigators complete the work at this site.

 

[cybervampira]

'Items of interest' found during search for missing Punta Gorda woman

Items found in Charlotte County Friday might help connect the dots of what happened to a Punta Gorda woman who went missing 24 years ago.

[...]

Charlotte County Sheriff's Office on Twitter

Some items of interest were recovered from the Fairway site. These items will be sent to the appropriate laboratories for testing. No visually identifiable human bones were recovered from this site.

 

[iulia]

Search for remains in a cold case comes to an end

The search to find remains of a missing woman in Punta Gorda came to an end Saturday. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s office says the Cold Case Unite will now examine their findings and proceed with the case.

 

[dotr]

March 4 2019 rbbm.
Deputies desperate to find anonymous person who gave accurate tip on 1995 cold case
"PUNTA GORDA (WWSB) - Deputies in Charlotte County spent weeks last month looking for the possible remains of Christine Flahive, a woman who disappeared in Punta Gorda 1995 and was never seen again.

Now the sheriff’s office says they believe someone has information about her disappearance and they’re desperate to locate them. On February 27, deputies say they received a tip about Rollins Street and the disappearance of Flahive that they say is “accurate and important to our investigation.”

Deputies say they are only looking to discuss the information with the anonymous tipster in whatever format that person is most comfortable with, saying, “We also believe that due to your age at the time of your reported information, you may have valuable information that is vital to our investigation and you may be unaware of how important it may be.”

The sheriff’s office is asking the tipster to contact them the same way the tipster did before to connect with detectives."
If you have any information please contact 941-639-2101.

 

[dotr]

http://www.winknews.com/2019/03/05/...isappearance-and-murder-of-christine-flahive/

March 5 2019
"Person of interest named in disappearance and murder of Christine Flahive
Just over a month after a property in Punta Gorda was searched in connection to the Christine Flahive cold case, detectives now have a person of interest.

Tuesday morning, Jonathan Charles Payne was named as a person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Christine Flahive on January 4, 1995.

Flahive was last seen by family members at home, before she left on her bicycle to go to a local bar.

She was known to frequent J.D.’s Lounge in downtown Punta Gorda during that time frame, and detectives believe multiple people who also frequented that establishment may also have pivotal information that can help solve this case."

 

[cybervampira]

Investigators, cadaver dogs comb the woods for a missing woman

Deep in the woods, Detectives are on the hunt for clues to solve a 24-year-old cold case. Investigators are searching for a missing mother, utilizing a tip that brought them back to an area they previously searched.

“It’s slow,” said Mike Vogel, of Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s tedious, but that’s what cold cases are.”

Cadaver dogs search for signs of Christine Flahive.

“You know, we don’t give up on doing whatever we have to do recover an individual or at least find out what happened to the individual,” Vogel said.

Cold case Detective Vogel said a recent tip led them back to the woods on Rollins St. After clearing out brush Wednesday, the dogs got to work Thursday morning. This time, the dogs are concentrating on a smaller location.

“We’ll come back as often as we have to or as often as we feel like we need to,” Vogel said.

[...]

 

[GraceG]

Investigators, cadaver dogs comb the woods for a missing woman

Deep in the woods, Detectives are on the hunt for clues to solve a 24-year-old cold case. Investigators are searching for a missing mother, utilizing a tip that brought them back to an area they previously searched.

“It’s slow,” said Mike Vogel, of Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s tedious, but that’s what cold cases are.”

Cadaver dogs search for signs of Christine Flahive.

“You know, we don’t give up on doing whatever we have to do recover an individual or at least find out what happened to the individual,” Vogel said.

Cold case Detective Vogel said a recent tip led them back to the woods on Rollins St. After clearing out brush Wednesday, the dogs got to work Thursday morning. This time, the dogs are concentrating on a smaller location.

“We’ll come back as often as we have to or as often as we feel like we need to,” Vogel said.

[...]

I'm glad they brought the dogs out. They're pretty effective even after this many years.

In a study published in 2007, the forensic pathologist Lars Oesterhelweg, then at the University of Bern in Switzerland, and colleagues tested the ability of three Hamburg State Police cadaver dogs to pick out – of a line-up of six new carpet squares – the one that had been exposed for no more than 10 minutes to a recently deceased person. They had 98% accuracy.

But what about when all you have left is a skeleton? Anthropologist Keith Jacobi of the University of Alabama investigated this at a police-dog training facility, where human remains ranging from fresh to skeletonised have been buried (the remains were bequeathed by donors). The dogs could locate skeletonised remains buried in an area of 300ft by 150ft. The few single human vertebrae used in the study were well over 25 years old, and dry bone. This made the discovery of one of these vertebrae, which was buried in dense woods 2ft deep, by a cadaver dog pretty remarkable.

 

[dotr]

Jan 3 2020

Detectives dig up new details in disappearance of Punta Gorda woman
"Cold case detectives are now learning Payne’s job gave him access to heavy machinery. They’re looking into whether that could have played a role in the disposal of her body.
“That would give them the ability to place a body much deeper in the ground than we would be able to detect with the dogs or the search,” said cold-case detective Kurt Mehl.

Detectives are asking for people who knew or had contact with Payne to contact them at 941-505-4653 or coldcast@ccsofl.net.

Tips can also be provided anonymously to Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-780-TIPS (8477) or through the CCSO Mobile App. "

 

[chaddylex]

CCSO reaches out to tipster in 1995 missing person cold case
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit is trying to reach the person who recently submitted an anonymous tip in the 1995 missing person cold case of Christine Flahive.

This past January marked 25 years since the last time Flahive was seen.

Despite conducting dozens of interviews and receiving dozens of tips over the last 25 years, they’re still left with more questions than answers. The unit is now investigating the case as a homicide.

They released the following message to the tipster:

We have received your entry and are interested in the information you supplied. The cold case unit believes that your information is important and would like for you to provide more details that we can follow up on.

Specific details will help the cold case unit investigate the 1995 missing person cold case of Christine Flahive and believe with your help, closure is attainable.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Praying that tipster comes forward. I hope they are not too scared and can do so safely. This family needs to put Christine to rest and begin to heal.

Wink News FB post 5/20/2020
WINK News

 

[PayrollNerd]

Sheesh, not a good address...

WINK News

Investigators, cadaver dogs comb the woods for missing Christine Flahive

Cold case Detective Vogel said a recent tip led them back to the woods on Rollins St. After clearing out brush Wednesday, the dogs got to work Thursday morning. This time, the dogs are concentrating on a smaller location.

“We’ll come back as often as we have to or as often as we feel like we need to,” Vogel said.

Detectives said Rollins is where a person of interest in the case, Jonathan Payne, lived when Christine Flahive went missing in 1995.

It is also where a convicted killer lived 6 years later.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Monday marks 26 years since the 43-year-old woman disappeared. She was last seen leaving her home on her bicycle. Investigators believe she was heading to JD’s Lounge in downtown Punta Gorda, then to a mobile home off Rollins Street.

That’s where detectives are focusing their search for Flahive: on a piece of land off Rollins Street where Jonathan Payne was staying in 1995.

Detectives consider the case to be a homicide and announced Payne as a person of interest in 2020 even though he died in 2011.

Despite conducting dozens of interviews and receiving dozens of tips over the last 25 years, they’re still left with more questions than answers.

“A substantial amount of time has elapsed and, of course, without finding her whereabouts, it makes it that much more difficult,” said Detective Kurt Mehl with the Charlotte County Sheriff Office’s Cold Case Unit last year.

“We also have information from a confidential informant, a confidential source, that she is deceased,” said Cold Case Unit Detective Mike Vogel.

One tip they received: Payne and his associates had access to some big machines.

“Construction type machinery that could allow for burial rather deep,” Mehl said.

Detectives and cadaver dogs spent a bulk of early 2019 searching several properties, including Rollins Street. They found some concerning items, but those won’t help with the investigation due to Mother Nature.

“The ones we could submit were submitted, but unfortunately, due to time and degradation, there is not really anything of value to do any kind of comparison of DNA or anything of that nature,” Mehl said.

Detectives believe Flahive was killed in Charlotte County and her remains are still in the area. They say finding out what happened to the Charlotte County mother is a top priority.

“As investigators, we want to solve a case,” Vogel said. “I mean, that’s what we do. But also, just as human beings, we want to resolve the case for the family.”

Investigators confirmed that Phillip Barr, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Tara Sidarovich in Punta Gorda, lived on the same property as Payne, moving in a few years after Payne moved out.

Barr’s ex-girlfriend’s family owned that land and the property next door, but detectives don’t believe Barr or his ex-girlfriend were involved in Flahive’s disappearance.

Anyone with information regarding the Flahive case is urged to contact the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office by calling 941-639-0013 or submitting an anonymous tip via the CCSO website or the CCSO’s free mobile app. You can also call Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 800-780-TIPS.

Detectives also said that if you knew Payne or if you frequented downtown Punta Gorda around January 1995, to contact them.
What happened to Christine Flahive? Questions linger in '95 disappearance

 

[CastlesBurning]

Details updated, 1/7/21:

Christine Muriel Flahive – The Charley Project

 

[PayrollNerd]

It's a lot harder to hide a bicycle than a body. I'm betting both are deep below the ground. I couldn't find anything that said the bicycle had been located, unless I just missed it.

Flahive was last seen by family members at home, before she left on her bicycle to go to a local bar.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

CCSO is looking into any connections Davis may have to unsolved homicides or missing women from the 1980s and 90s. They say he used to hang out at the now-closed Mayfair Lounge in North Fort Myers and has a history of violence.

“Because Mr. Davis has been involved in at least two homicides and an attempted homicide of a prostitute in Columbus, Ohio, he is on our radar for unsolved cases of missing women and murdered women, murdered females,” CCSO Det. Kurt Mehl said.

One of those unsolved cases is Christine Flahive, who went missing back in 1995 in Charlotte County.
Ohio death row inmate may be linked to multiple SWFL cold case homicides