FL FL - Evelyn Mackey, 40, Hernando County, 5 Nov 1981

[Sleuthster]

LE= Law enforcement

 

[detective]

Thank you for the explanation. I am still confused on the "interesting thing is he had LE's investigative records sealed in 1985". Does that mean you or someone requested these records from Hernando County Sheriff or Police and that you were told they were sealed? I'm a bit new at this and I am trying to figure out how Mr. Mackey can seal these records. If the Sheriff Dept. sealed them, it may be due to it being an active case. Thanks for your patience.

 

[Sleuthster]

I would think that the defendant and or his attorney would have had to request the records be sealed during on of the hearings regarding his case. I have never seen some one do this although I'm sure it does happen. I just wonder if there was something law enforcement found during their investigation (of a bad check??) that he didn't want being divulged to the public. Just an observation.

I don't know these people at all so I would not have requested it. My interest is any missing person/cold case in the Tampa Bay area. I know this area very well and try to provide insight. I have been here since 1971 when I was 5 and have an excellent memory of the goings on as well as the demographics of this area then and now. I also had a step father that was an attorney and I worked at his office as a teen so I am some what versed in the law.

 

[detective]

I think I see it now on the Pinellas Co. record that has "motion sealing PSI report". I think I get it now. I for some reason was thinking of the Broward Co. record. I have learned something new. Thanks for pointing that out. Interesting stuff.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Evelyn was featured on an episode of Cold Justice last night.

http://2paragraphs.com/2015/05/evelyn-mackey-of-hernando-county-florida-missing-since-1981/

 

[Sleuthster]

According to Doenetwork's fb page the Cold Justice episode talks about a confession from the husband that she hit her head after falling off a dock and then he tied an anchor to her and placed her back in the water???? What?? Is this for real?

From their fb page
"In an interview done by investigators for the show, her husband states she died after hitting her head and falling off a dock. He then states he tied an anchor to her body and placed her back into the water.Youtube link to Cold Justice episode from 5/1/15.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2tI1pbhaEo
Doe Network link:
http://doenetwork.org/cases/1087dffl.html
http://2paragraphs.com/…/evelyn-mackey-of-hernando-county-…/"

 

[Sleuthster]

So why is he not in jail????

 

[Sleuthster]

I was told by Doenetwork that they said on the show that the statute of limitations ran out on second degree murder. Pfft. That makes me so mad that LE is leaving it at this. Florida's made a case before with no body on 1st degree.

 

[Skully]

He filed for Divorce in January just after she went missing. If you look him up in court docs, he has some arrests. Looks like he has an anger problem to me.

 

[Skully]

I decided to look in the Hernando County records and found a order to dismiss a case filed regarding the marriage of Evelyn Laverne Mackey aka Evelyn Wallace. It was filed by her ex husband Larry S Wallace. The order was to dismiss the case (I think because she was a no show in court), dated 12/22/1983.

There is also a Judgment filed by Merl Mackey 2 months after she goes missing 1/1993 but it is sealed. Wonder if this is a divorce?

I don't see any records of marriage in Hernando for either Mackey or Wallace. So she may have married them in another state and moved to FL.

Here is my post, you can go to Hernando County court records to see it.

 

[Skully]

I was told by Doenetwork that they said on the show that the statute of limitations ran out on second degree murder. Pfft. That makes me so mad that LE is leaving it at this. Florida's made a case before with no body on 1st degree.

Well if they find her body and it is not a bump to the head, maybe gun shot, would that do it? Or does it still hold up for 2 degree? I think with the history of the insurance, house deed, money, isolation they can get a conviction. But hell, why did this take so long?

 

[Sleuthster]

Well if they find her body and it is not a bump to the head, maybe gun shot, would that do it? Or does it still hold up for 2 degree? I think with the history of the insurance, house deed, money, isolation they can get a conviction. But hell, why did this take so long?

Yeah but what's the chances of finding any of her remains now. I hope divers at least searched the dock area. Highly unlikely though after all these years. I find it highly unlikely there will ever been any closure for her daughter.

 

[Skully]

So he took her fishing. Do we know if she liked to fish, or did she do this with him? Also if he took her to this lake with the intent of killing her, wouldn't that prove premeditated murder?

Here is the weather for that day, I don't see rain, but a bit chilly to go out fishing in the am. I really hope to God that they find her remains or the DA feels they have enough to arrest him and go to trial. If not, the family knows what happened, and they know who did it. Who watches a wife die and anchors the body to make it sink. If they were at a dock, why does he have an anchor, are they in a boat? Did she swim or even like to go out on a boat?

http://www.wunderground.com/history...reqdb.zip=34601&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999

 

[Skully]

So my ramblings begin, LOL I am thinking maybe he did not sink her body. I could be wrong, but most men tend to bury and woman use water when getting rid of a body. I don't know where I read that, but I did. So if he killed her in a fashion that would look like murder, he wouldn't want LE to find her body, lets say there was a gun shot to her head and that rules out accident as he is claiming. He hid her body, why not just report the accident? Maybe the head wound is too grievous to look like she fell, too much impact. There is a chance she is buried and not in a lake or body of water. He said he used an anchor, did they ever check with anyone who knew him in the area of where he lived to see if anyone, ever, saw him in boat and did it have an anchor? Just tossing stuff out for thought, just in case someone in the know reads here.

 

[Skully]

The quality and thoroughness of any investigation depends in large part upon the people doing the investigation, their experience, available resources, and work load. It is hard to say what specific factors entered into or hampered any given investigation.

While, in this case, it seems pretty obvious that the husband either did something, or knew something, the reasons for LE not investigating more closely are not so obvious. Some of these sketchy case summaries were written many years after the fact, and often information which is included in them was NOT available at the time to the investigators. Other pieces of information which was available early in the investigation, might get left out of the summary.

Unfortunately, by the time a lead comes in, the trail is often cold, or things have changed considerably. Even if some really good information is given to police by a reliable source years after a crime, it has to be checked out and verified - and investigators run into such problems as witnesses who have moved or died, records which have been destroyed, businesses which have closed, etc. Usually, the more time that elapses, the harder it is to solve a case. Even when a case is solved, closed, and the perpetrator in jail, the case might be thrown back at new investigators because of an appeal court decision.

Police Investigators have to find specific evidence and there are very strict rules regarding how they can get it. There are a lot of cases concerning missing persons, where the police know beyond a doubt that a murder was committed and who did it - but they have to have the evidence for proof. And usually this means that they have to have a body. Without a body, an investigator might feel pretty frustrated when his gut tells him what happened and who was responsible.

All that said, I believe that many of these cold cases CAN be solved with the right insight, some police work, perseverance, and also a little luck.

I just want to bump this Richard, it is well said and explains a lot. Her case has bothered me for years and after reading about it, I couldn't understand why this was a cold case. So happy Cold Justice reached out and put some resources together to get this solved, well at least, we know she is in fact dead and who was responsible. We have the it from the horses mouth, now we need to get him back in the barn. Locked up.

 

[Sleuthster]

I don't believe she's in the water either. If it was murder and it was premeditated then why would he tell LE where he put Evelyn's body??? He wouldn't because then there would be evidence contradicting his statement of what happened.

 

[Skully]

We can only hope that the DA's office will look at it and say, let's go for it.

And he can't hid in TX because it is out there now. People know who he is and what he did.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Merl Mackey was arrested last month and is now awaiting trial.

"Fugitive arrested in Ruidoso Downs"

http://www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/local/police/2015/09/27/fugitive-arrested-ruidoso-downs/72952642/

The manhunt for wanted murder suspect Merl Mackey, accused of killing his wife in 1981 in Hernando County, Florida, ended last weekend in front of the Ruidoso Downs Walmart.

Mackey, who was wanted on charges of premeditated murder under a warrant issued by the Levy County Sheriff’s Office in Levy County, Florida, was located in front of the Walmart store operating a bogus booth under the auspices of soliciting funds for the Wounded Warriors Project.

Here's some of the information from the Cold Justice episode that aired this past May:

http://www.examiner.com/article/tnt-cold-justice-1981-con-man-covers-up-missing-wife-for-30-years

Merl influenced Laverne to sign his name to her house. He claimed to have a form of cancer. He then inherited the house when Laverne went missing. He also withdrew all her money from her bank account. Investigators discovered that Merl had spent his life marrying women, isolating them & taking their money. The police travel to a small town in Texas to find Merl & to ask him questions

 

[Sleuthster]

Merl Mackey was arrested last month and is now awaiting trial.

"Fugitive arrested in Ruidoso Downs"

http://www.ruidosonews.com/story/ne.../27/fugitive-arrested-ruidoso-downs/72952642/



Here's some of the information from the Cold Justice episode that aired this past May:

http://www.examiner.com/article/tnt-cold-justice-1981-con-man-covers-up-missing-wife-for-30-years

They mentioned us in the news article. Pretty cool! "According to the website “Websleuths,” Evelyn Mackey, age 40, was last seen on Nov. 5, 1981, at her home in Hernando County, Florida. Recently married to Merl Mackey, her daughter told officials that she left with Mackey that morning. When the girl was picked up at school by Mackey later that day, he told her that her mother had left to care for a sick relative who lived out of state. When contacted, the relative had no knowledge of Mrs. Mackey’s alleged visit. Mrs. Mackey was not seen again. "

I'm glad that they charged him and arrested him.

 

[Tricia]

They mentioned us in the news article. Pretty cool! "According to the website “Websleuths,” Evelyn Mackey, age 40, was last seen on Nov. 5, 1981, at her home in Hernando County, Florida. Recently married to Merl Mackey, her daughter told officials that she left with Mackey that morning. When the girl was picked up at school by Mackey later that day, he told her that her mother had left to care for a sick relative who lived out of state. When contacted, the relative had no knowledge of Mrs. Mackey’s alleged visit. Mrs. Mackey was not seen again. "

I'm glad that they charged him and arrested him.

This proves, once again, Websleuths is used by mainstream media to confirm FACTS.

Great job everyone for keeping Evelyn's story out there.

Thank you for making a difference and participating on Websleuths.