May 9 2020
Cold cases to hot sand: Pinellas homicide detective’s work not just a day at the beach
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Detective Christopher Lyons walks past Caddy's restaurant which opened on Friday. Lyons expects younger beachgoers to come out to the popular spot in Treasure Island. Lyons is usually a cold case detective, but now he's helping enforce public health rules on Pinellas' beaches. [MARTHA ASENCIO RHINE | Times]
by
Kathryn Varn
Published 2 hours ago
''TREASURE ISLAND — Walking along one of the country’s most beautiful beaches, Detective Chris Lyons can’t stop thinking about unsolved homicides''.
Lyons approaches a man in a Caddy’s shirt and asks him about the reopening plan — a lot of beachgoers had been asking. Then he pivots.
“You ever hear about that girl from Indian Rocks Beach who went missing years ago?” he asks.
Her name is
Kelly Rothwell, and her case haunts the 21-year law enforcement officer like no other.
Rothwell, 35, was last seen March 12, 2011. That night, the police cadet told a friend she was going to break up with her live-in boyfriend, David Perry. Then, she was supposed to meet up with friends from the police academy at Caddy’s. She never showed.
Her boyfriend moved to New York the night she disappeared. Her car was found two miles from their home. She has long been presumed dead, and Perry remains the only suspect.
The Caddy’s employee, Tom Danhousen, says he hasn’t heard of the case. Still, Lyons figures, he probably talks to a lot of locals. He pulls out a business card, jots Rothwell’s name on the back and tells Danhousen to call him if he hears anything.''