FL FL - Heather, 28, & Kira Radcliffe, 6, Gainesville, 9 December 2006

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Hello again,

I will try and answer as many of the questions since my last posting as possible.

As far as I know there was no one she was feeling sorry about. I am pretty sure she mowed her own lawn. She was pretty independent that way. Don't know of any repairs she had not made herself or had a friend do.

It is very scary to see how many sexual offenders there are in that area. I will send an email to discuss this with the LE.

I don't know the people who owned the house prior to Heather. They were her neighbors for several years because she rented the house next door. The wife was very upset when I met her. The public at that time still thought it was an accident and she was very upset thinking she had sold a house with problems.

The Christmas tree was still in the truck bed because she got home relatively late. She would have thought nothing of having a gas can in next to the tree either given her job meant she was carrying gas to job sights all the time.

The dog is still strange to me also. One would think he would have made a lot of noise being placed in a room by himself, something that I don't think Heather would have ever done.

Not sure where Heather went for all her errands. I do know she stopped at a bank and I think the grocery store.

Her AA group came forward and I think most were checked. My understanding is it is not normal for a group to expose themselves like that, but they wanted to help in what ever way they could with the investigation.

I agree it was not a professional killer. Too many things still make me think it was someone she knew. Kira spent a great deal of time at my fathers and she did spend the night there frequently. It is possible he could have thought she would not be there that night.

Not sure why Kira was strangled, other than she say him. It is known that she died from smoke inhalation and not the strangulation.

Still don't think that anything was taken from the house, but that doesn't mean something was hidden in a wall or something and that could be one reason Kira's room was set on fire first. I don't know her room was set on fire first, it just makes sense though since there was more damage on that end of the house than in Heather's room.

Thanks again for all your questions and posts. They do help me with questions I had not thought about to ask the LE.
 
Does anyone know if LE did an autopsy on the dog?
Also, the killer, while being far from a professional, was organized enough to know that arson would destroy evidence.
He was cutting it close getting out of her house.
As for the dog being in the study near Kira's room; if it had felt threatened, maybe it had been attempting to protect Kira, who was inside her bedroom, then the killer incapacitated it.
Was the house area thoroughly searched for shells from the gun? Maybe the killer's reasoning for strangling Kira was that he was out of bullets or had gotten paranoid about the loudness of shots fired.
..just throwing some things out there.
 
I have some very sad news to share. Heather's father, Robert Radcliffe, passed away on Thursday, September 3rd.

I would like to extend my condolences to the Radcliffe family, and NCGator - Heather's brother. We are all thinking of you and your family. You all are in my prayers, and I'm sure many other members of WS and the community here.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/...ithout-knowing-who-killed-daughter-grandchild
 
Is this case still unsolved??

TIA to anyone who may know if justice was ever served on behalf of mom and daughter, Heather and Kira???.. So very sad and tragic if it still remains open And UNsolved..
 
The last update I could find was from three years ago and the case is still unsolved.

http://www.wcjb.com/local-news/2012/12/no-new-leads-six-years-after-motherdaughter-murdered

There remains no motive, no murder weapon and no suspect.

And six years later, there is still no justice for a mother and daughter who were murdered in their home.

While he believes there are possible witnesses and one day it will eventually be solved, he said the case is now at a standstill.

Any helpful evidence was destroyed in the fire and waiting for people to come forward with information has been a wait in vain.

"It's very frustrating," Smith said. "We know someone knows what happened. There's somebody out there wrestling with coming forward with information that they have that may lead to an arrest in this case."
 
Hello all I am new to web sleuths and wondering if there has been any progress in this case because the most recent movements I can find anywhere are from 2008. Thanks for any information!
 
Hello all I am new to web sleuths and wondering if there has been any progress in this case because the most recent movements I can find anywhere are from 2008. Thanks for any information!

It is a cold case and I don't think LE looks at it anymore. There is never any mention of it in local news media.

Apparently (IMO) LE did a piss poor job of investigating this horrible double murder since it is known that she knew the killer.

A few years ago the local ABC channel, WCJB did a series on cold cases and covered this one. There was no new information at that time. It appears the article has been deleted from their website.

Sad and frustrating for those of us who knew Heather and Kira.
 
Why would the child call the house of a family friend instead of 911?
It was probably a domestic dispute at the time she placed the call. She may have been calling a family friend to say her mom was arguing/fighting with so and so and could they come over and/or talk to her mom.

Out of the info known publicly, this call seems to be the most important clue in the case. There's a reason she called a specific person and not 911. It's really unfortunate that this case seems to have been botched and has been in limbo since it happened.


Still don't think that anything was taken from the house, but that doesn't mean something was hidden in a wall or something and that could be one reason Kira's room was set on fire first. I don't know her room was set on fire first, it just makes sense though since there was more damage on that end of the house than in Heather's room.
They don't know where the fire originated? Who in the hell ran that part of the investigation?

If it started in Kira's room, that's pretty significant. If true, obvious there's quite a bit of evidence being held back.
 
originally posted by believe09

Why would the child call the house of a family friend instead of 911?

It was probably a domestic dispute at the time she placed the call. She may have been calling a family friend to say her mom was arguing/fighting with so and so and could they come over and/or talk to her mom.

Out of the info known publicly, this call seems to be the most important clue in the case. There's a reason she called a specific person and not 911. It's really unfortunate that this case seems to have been botched and has been in limbo since it happened.


They don't know where the fire originated? Who in the hell ran that part of the investigation?

If it started in Kira's room, that's pretty significant. If true, obvious there's quite a bit of evidence being held back.

The family friend was a police officer which is why Kira was calling.

I do not believe this was a domestic dispute and there was no evidence to support that theory.

LE says they have very little evidence and have requested anyone with knowledge or information to come forward. They have said until there is new evidence the investigation is stalled.
 
No evidence to support that theory? I'm not seeing much evidence to support any theory.

As I'm sure you're aware, a majority of murder victims are killed by someone they know. Add a child murder victim into that equation, the percentage probably goes up.

Yeah I've read that the family friend was LE. Even if the family friend was the chief of police, its still significant that she chose to call a specific person and not 911. I do realize she was a child and they'll see things a bit differently but if a random lunatic has broke in and is attacking her mother, time is of the essence. Another reason I think they were killed by someone they knew is the fact she didn't run. If she has time to make a phone call, she has time to run. She also ran towards her mom's room when their killer saw her. This is also something a person would be more willing to do if they knew them. There was also the tire slashing incident and those types of things are usually done by someone you know.

Heather's brother said this:

I do know who Kira was trying to call. Why she was I don't know.
Her brother doesn't know and LE doesn't seem to know but everyone else does?

She dropped Kira off at her father's house for awhile and then picked her up and went home. I don't think its that far out of left field to believe the crime probably has something to do with the person she was with during that time.

I also know that their family thought they were murdered by someone they knew...or at least they thought so years ago.

What's the evidence that it wasn't some sort of domestic incident?
 
Is this still active? Would those who have research done share with me? I grew up in Gville and I still know lots of peeps there so I'd like to try to help any way I can. I want to make this a feature on my blog and get some exposure going for it.
 
Published 11/16/2017

Gainesville mom, 6-year-old daughter murdered, house torched - Police seek tips

Snips:
When veteran fire investigator Kelly DeRasmo arrives, she fears that if anyone is still inside, they won't make it out alive. She finds it strange that the fire broke out in the middle of the night, and the front door is unlocked.

"I could still see smoke coming from the attic space, but a huge whole was in that right-above-the-bedroom area," said DeRasmo.

There was one massive fire, but two ignition points.

"Heather Radcliffe's bedroom was a separately-set fire," said Kelly DeRasmo.

But Inspector DeRasmo knows immediately this was no accident. The fire started in two different spots. The first ignition point was Heather's mattress. The second and more volatile was set in Kira's bedroom.

"Obviously by using an accelerant in conjunction with a cigarette, a match," said DeRasmo.

"Heather was shot three times: twice in the head and once in the chest area," said Patty Nixon. "We believe that Heather was possibly sexually assaulted."

"Kira's death was a combination of both the strangulation and the smoke inhalation," said Gainesville Police Det. Martin Honeycutt.
 
Thanks so much, opme!

I've looked for any sort of online footprints from Heather...can't really find much. I've e-mailed the detective on the case and asked if there's any other information we can know.

I'd like to know the names of the suspects...why can't we know them? Gainesville is a small enough town that you can find friends in common..especially in a specific industry....we just need to know what sort of work these suspects do. Would like to know where her family is located. I did find a bulletin from a church here that said they were members of a church in St. Augustine.

I'm wondering if that's where Heather was originally from? I haven't heard anything back from LE...but I feel like we need some more details to even start. From the article...brother is in Durham, N.C. I'll actually be up there in a week...wonder if she went to high school there?

Mapped the location...very close to me...spoke to my co-worker who's lived near that area for 15 years or so. She said there's a lot of construction going on in that area...and that there was a year ago, as well. That's interesting. Could it have been a construction worker who had been watching her?

Why are they withholding the suspect's names? They NEED some pressure put on them by people that know them. Why are their lives immune from public scrutiny? If we knew who they were....we could possibly find out a lot more.

Heather's mother died before Heather was murdered. Her father has since died without knowing who murdered his daughter and granddaughter and without justice.
 
Last edited:
My guess would be that they're referring to the culprit. It's worded in present tense, instead of past tense. "is highly thought of..."
Whoever it is, knows enough to rid of all evidence with fire to cover their tracks. Would they call in Fl Dept of LE in if it was a cop who was suspected in this? Maybe the culprit is well off with $$, a community figure of some sort.

If the police had not been so secretive about this double murder I'm sure someone in the community had/has information that would have been useful in solving this crime and making an arrest. Why have they refused to release any information? It leads one to wonder.
There is much they could release while still withholding information that they would need to not be public knowledge.
 
Does anyone know if LE did an autopsy on the dog?
Also, the killer, while being far from a professional, was organized enough to know that arson would destroy evidence.
He was cutting it close getting out of her house.
As for the dog being in the study near Kira's room; if it had felt threatened, maybe it had been attempting to protect Kira, who was inside her bedroom, then the killer incapacitated it.
Was the house area thoroughly searched for shells from the gun? Maybe the killer's reasoning for strangling Kira was that he was out of bullets or had gotten paranoid about the loudness of shots fired.
..just throwing some things out there.

Gainesville police are not known for their efficiency in solving crimes. I once had a policeman take his own prints off a cabinet, prints that he should not have left there. He should not have touched the cabinet.
 
Published 11/16/2017

Gainesville mom, 6-year-old daughter murdered, house torched - Police seek tips

Snips:
When veteran fire investigator Kelly DeRasmo arrives, she fears that if anyone is still inside, they won't make it out alive. She finds it strange that the fire broke out in the middle of the night, and the front door is unlocked.

"I could still see smoke coming from the attic space, but a huge whole was in that right-above-the-bedroom area," said DeRasmo.

There was one massive fire, but two ignition points.

"Heather Radcliffe's bedroom was a separately-set fire," said Kelly DeRasmo.

But Inspector DeRasmo knows immediately this was no accident. The fire started in two different spots. The first ignition point was Heather's mattress. The second and more volatile was set in Kira's bedroom.

"Obviously by using an accelerant in conjunction with a cigarette, a match," said DeRasmo.

"Heather was shot three times: twice in the head and once in the chest area," said Patty Nixon. "We believe that Heather was possibly sexually assaulted."

"Kira's death was a combination of both the strangulation and the smoke inhalation," said Gainesville Police Det. Martin Honeycutt.
 

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