This is much more in depth and dated 2015. In my opinion, this man abused this child. Her changed behavior was a huge clue. I bet that evidence was a sexual assault kit, clothing and bed sheets. I wonder if his profile is now in CODIS. JMO
Unsolved murder of child haunts neighbors // 10-year-old lived quietly, cautiously
Published Oct. 16, 2005
Snip:
-- SEE CORRECTION IN NOTES FIELD ST. PETERSBURG - Erin Cobb and her brother, Stacey, weren't the type of children to let just anyone in the apartment. The two, newcomers to Florida, were very security conscious.
But early on the day after Christmas, 10-year-old Erin was found dead,
apparently strangled with an electrical cord while in bed. The front door was open, neighbors said. The child was found by her mother's live-in boyfriend, who called police.
The murder has left neighbors in the far north St. Petersburg apartment complex frightened. One even left home at night for a while to sleep. Nearly two weeks after Erin's death, no one is in custody.
Police have reported to city officials that they have a suspect.
"We've sent evidence to the laboratory, and we're waiting for the results to come back," police Maj. Cliff Fouts said.
Snip:
Some time after her arrival in Florida, Mrs. Cobb met Stephen Michael Wilder, a 29-year-old California native. He became her live-in boyfriend.
Neighbors know little about his background. "I'd pass him out in the hall and he wouldn't talk," Sealy said. Wilder stayed around the apartment during the day and was thought to be an unemployed mechanic.
At one time Wilder planned to move back to California, according to a man who purchased a Safety Harbor house co-owned by Wilder and Patrick Tifer.
Randy Seaver, who bought the home, said Tifer and Wilder told him at closing two years ago they were going to San Francisco. "They didn't have the house but a couple of years," Seaver said.
Erin's family, including Wilder, took a trip to West Virginia in the spring. By then, Erin had become quieter, Rosa Cobb said.