FL FL - Margie Phillips, 30, Fort Myers, 22 April 1976

[hoppyfrog]

http://www.winknews.com/news/local/10060196.html

A Fort Myers family is hoping 21st century technology can help police solve a 31-year old missing persons case.

Margie Phillips was last seen on April 22, 1976. She was heading to a bank in downtown Fort Myers with her boyfriend. But no account activity was recorded that day, and nobody has seen her since.

Now, detectives are turning to DNA, taking a sample from one of Phillips' sisters to compare to unsolved cases.

Investigators have interviewed Margie Phillips' then-boyfriend several times over three decades. WINK News found him still living in Fort Myers, but he did not want to speak to us on camera. In 1976, he told investigators that phillips disappeared after he took her to a downtown bank. But other witnesses then said the couple was spotted driving north on US 41. The family admits suspicions about margie's former boyfriend, but her daughter simply wants to know what happened-- to finally get some closure.

"I don't hate him, I forgive him. But he needs to come forward," said Wanda Phillips.

Wednesday would have been Margie Phillips' 62nd birthday. Her sisters say the best present would be to get a new lead in the case. If you know anything, you're urged to call CrimeStoppers at 800-780-TIPS. Your calls can remain anonymous.

more at link

pic

 

[Richard]

Margie L Phillips, 41, Missing since April 22, 1976 from Fort Myers, FL

Margie L Phillips
Missing since April 22, 1976 from Fort Myers, Lee County, Florida
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics


Date Of Birth: September 26, 1945
Age at Time of Disappearance: 41 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3"; 120 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black female. Black hair; brown eyes.
DNA: Available
Photo at below link
Circumstances of Disappearance

Phillips, a mother of four, was last seen in Fort Myers, FL on April 22, 1976. She was heading to a bank in downtown Fort Myers with her boyfriend. But no account activity was recorded that day, and nobody has seen her since. Witnesses then said the couple was spotted driving north on US 41.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Fort Myers Police Department
239-321-7700

OR

Crime Stoppers
800-780-TIPS

Agency Case Number: 86-26470

Source Information:

FDLE
Wink News
News-Press.com
The Doe Network: Case File 1949DFFL

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1949dffl.html

 

[Richard]

Margie has been missing for 36 years.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

NamUs

Charley Project

"Police Seek Help with Unsolved Missing Person’s Case"

http://www.fmpolice.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=301

The Fort Myers Police Department is aggressively seeking any tips or information that may shed light on the almost 40-year-old missing person’s case of Margie Phillips (d.o.b. 09/26/1944 of Fort Myers)

 

[Moonwalker9]

Margie Lee Phillips

• 
• 
• 

Phillips, circa 1976

• Missing Since04/22/1976
• Missing FromFort Myers, Florida
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Date of Birth09/26/1945 (73)
• Age30 years old
• Height and Weight5'3, 120 pounds
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsAfrican-American female. Black hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance
Phillips was last seen in Fort Myers, Florida on April 22, 1976. She was on the way to the First Federal Savings and Loan Office downtown with her live-in boyfriend, Willie Lee Battles.

Battles said he fell asleep after they arrived at the bank and when he woke up, Phillips was gone and the business had closed. She has never been heard from again. None of the bank employees saw her go inside, and there was no activity on her bank account that day.

Foul play is suspected in Phillips's case, as she left behind four children and it's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. She's described as a hard-working individual who cleaned houses in order to support her family.

Authorities questioned Battles several times in the decades after her disappearance. He stated he dropped Phillips off at the bank that day and never saw her again, but other witnesses reported seeing the couple driving north on U.S. 41. Investigators believe Battles murdered her, but there is insufficient evidence to charge him in her case.

Phillips has four children. Her case remains unsolved. Some agencies give the year of her disappearance as 1986.

 

[iulia]

https://www.winknews.com/2019/04/16/decades-old-cold-case-still-solvable/

 

[Aurora90]

Can anyone local to this area (Canadian here) possibly explain where north on US 41 from Fort myers takes you? Tried looking on Google, but all this stuff on counties and whatnot confuses me.

Going down that route, what possible places could he have possibly disposed of her?

 

[Richard]

Missing for almost 45 Years...

Margie Lee Phillips

Phillips, circa 1976

• Missing Since 04/22/1976
• Missing From Fort Myers, Florida
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 09/26/1945 (75)
• Age 30 years old
• Height and Weight 5'3, 120 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Phillips was last seen in Fort Myers, Florida on April 22, 1976. She was on the way to the First Federal Savings and Loan Office downtown with her live-in boyfriend, Willie Lee Battles. She planned to withdraw money from her account to pay for a new car.

Battles said he fell asleep after they arrived at the bank and when he woke up, Phillips was gone and the business had closed. She has never been heard from again. None of the bank employees saw her go inside, and there was no activity on her bank account that day.

Foul play is suspected in Phillips's case, as she left behind four children and it's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. She's described as a hard-working individual who cleaned houses in order to support her family.

Authorities questioned Battles several times in the decades after her disappearance. He stated he dropped Phillips off at the bank that day and never saw her again, but other witnesses reported seeing the couple driving north on U.S. 41. Investigators believe Battles murdered her, but there is insufficient evidence to charge him in her case.

Phillips has four children. Her case remains unsolved. Some agencies give the year of her disappearance as 1986.

Investigating Agency

• Lee County Sheriff's Office 239-477-1000

Source Information

• The Doe Network
• Florida Department of Law Enforcement
• WINK News
• The Fort Myers New
• Margie Lee Phillips – The Charley Project

 

[Atombudd]

From a 2015 article:
Fort Myers police seek help in 1976 missing person case
Michael Braun
MBRAUN@NEWS-PRESS.COM
A trip to the bank and gone. Just like that. No trace, no clues, no evidence, no contact for almost 40 years. Margie Phillips vanished on April 22, 1976, after her boyfriend dropped her off at what was then the First Federal Savings and Loan Office in downtown Fort Myers.
It is the Fort Myers Police Department’s oldest missing person case and they recently reached out to the public for anything that might offer a clue as to what happened with Phillips.
“There has to be someone else who has information,” said Detective Sgt. Brian O'Reilly. “Thirty-nine years is a long time for the family not to have closure.” Phillips was a mother of four and 31 when she abruptly disappeared that spring day. She was last seen with her boyfriend Willie Lee Battles. Battles picked up Phillips at her job as a housekeeper and told investigators he drove her to the bank. However, there was no activity on her bank account and Phillips was not observed inside the bank by employees. Police said Battles told them he fell asleep in the car and when he woke up, the bank was closed and Phillips was gone. At the time of her disappearance, police said witnesses told them they saw Phillips and Battles head north on U.S. 41 in Charlotte County. From there, the trail ran cold. Phillips has not been seen since her disappearance.
In 2005, police unsuccessfully searched a lot on Larmie Street near The Imaginarium in Fort Myers after receiving a tip Phillips' body was there. Police later brought the case before the state attorney's office to see if there was enough evidence to charge the boyfriend with her disappearance, O'Reilly said. The state attorney's office rejected the case. “This is our oldest unsolved case in the city of Fort Myers. We’d very much like to bring closure to the Phillips’ family,” O’Reilly said. O’Reilly said despite various schools of thought on the Phillips case, there’s no doubt in his mind foul play happened.
Passage of time
Even though it has been some time since a new lead or bit of information has emerged,O'Reilly said there has never been a point where police thought of giving up and closing the case.
Police have collected family DNA in case remains are found and suspected of being Margie Phillips. Phillips’ third-oldest child, Wanda Phillips, now 43, was only 4 when her mother disappeared. The Cape Coral woman said she thinks of her mother every now and then. Her one younger sister and an older brother live in Fort Myers while a second older brother lives in Louisiana. Wanda Phillips told The News-Press in 2013 she went to live with a grandmother when her mother didn't come home. No one told her why, and for years no one answered when she asked where her mother was. She was 8 or 9 before she figured it out, through overhearing neighbors' whispered gossip. Battles told The News-Press in 2007 police quizzed him about the case. "The last time was a couple of weeks ago. They tried to rough me up a bit. I know that's how the game is played, but I'm not answering anything for anybody anymore," said Battles, then 60.
Battles also wouldn't discuss his relationship with Phillips. "I've been married for 27 years and me and my wife are sick of this. They want to say they saw me with her after she was reported missing. They can say it. It isn't true. I don't care who they say they have as witnesses."
Messages left for Battles, and other Phillips family members, were not returned.
To help
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sgt. Brian O'Reilly at 321-7700, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS or text message C-R-I-M-E-S (274637) Keyword FMPD.
Fort Myers police seek help in 1976 missing person case
In 2019 they put up a billboard for Margie New billboard shows victim's photo in 43-year-old cold case

 

[spartanx]

the boyfriend killed her wanted to keep the money but he acted violently before that happened he couldn't even take the money ... maybe what really happened to this girl

 

[spartanx]

more than a year and no clue... for the boyfriend it was the perfect crime, he kept the money, he killed her and was never charged... maybe that route they name where the witnesses saw them is a remote wooded area...

 

[GumshoeMama]

Can anyone local to this area (Canadian here) possibly explain where north on US 41 from Fort myers takes you? Tried looking on Google, but all this stuff on counties and whatnot confuses me.

Going down that route, what possible places could he have possibly disposed of her?

US 41 North takes you from Fort Myers to Punta Gorda, then Port Charlotte, then North Port (a little over an hour north of downtown Fort Myers)

 

[Caring1]

The first picture is a Jane Doe found in Orlando FL January 1977 with an estimated PMI of 4 months.

She is estimated to weigh 120 and approx 5’6” tall.

UID recon looks similar to Margie’s photos. She is not listed as one of the exclusions.

An Orange County worker and his crew discovered a body near the southwest shore of Lake Mann in a small amount of water surrounded by high weeds.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

 

[Aurora90]

The first picture is a Jane Doe found in Orlando FL January 1977 with an estimated PMI of 4 months.

She is estimated to weigh 120 and approx 5’6” tall.

UID recon looks similar to Margie’s photos. She is not listed as one of the exclusions.

An Orange County worker and his crew discovered a body near the southwest shore of Lake Mann in a small amount of water surrounded by high weeds.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

View attachment 397525View attachment 397528View attachment 397529

This jane doe is likely mabel andrews. The family and law enforcement both believe so. just an FYI.

 

[Aurora90]

The first picture is a Jane Doe found in Orlando FL January 1977 with an estimated PMI of 4 months.

She is estimated to weigh 120 and approx 5’6” tall.

UID recon looks similar to Margie’s photos. She is not listed as one of the exclusions.

An Orange County worker and his crew discovered a body near the southwest shore of Lake Mann in a small amount of water surrounded by high weeds.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

View attachment 397525View attachment 397528View attachment 397529

This jane doe will never appear on exclusion lists. I dont fully know why, the orlando ME won't explain why.

 

[GumshoeMama]

Mabel was my first thought, but I wonder why they haven’t confirmed ID…

 

[Diane Redfern]

The mysterious disappearance of Margie Phillips has raised eyebrows for years. The case has garnered heavy speculation as to whether or not the 30-year-old was murdered, but what is known is she was last seen with her boyfriend, Willie Lee Battles, on April 22, 1976. The 31-year-old (some reports list her as 30 and other state 41) was with Battles when they traveled to the First Federal Saving and Loan Office in the downtown area of Fort Myers, Florida. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about the trip, but according to Battles, Margie simply disappeared.

The couple reportedly lived together at the time and Margie Phillips went to the bank in order to get money to purchase a new vehicle. Battles claimed that while Margie was inside of the bank, he dozed off as he waited in the car. When he awoke, the bank was closed and Margie was nowhere to be seen.

Yet, bank employees reportedly told authorities that the mother of four never came inside. Additionally, records showed that Margie’s account hadn’t even been accessed on the day she was last seen. She’s described as a hard-working woman who was dedicated to her family and wouldn’t leave without letting them know where she went and if she was safe.

“Although it been 43 years, I never will forget that day,” said Genethel McGee, the victim’s sister, back in 2019. “It’s just like it was yesterday.” She added, “Every time that phone rang, I ran to that phone just knowing it was going to be her saying, ‘I’m coming home.’”

Unsurprisingly, Margie’s boyfriend was someone investigators were interested in speaking with, especially after witnesses came forward to say they saw the couple driving together on US 41 highway. Willie Lee Battles was reportedly repeatedly questioned by investigators for decades but he was never specifically named as a suspect in Margie’s missing person case. There just wasn’t enough evidence to tie him to any crime. However, it is stated that police believe that Battles murdered his girlfriend.

Authorities questioned Battles several times in the decades after Margie’s disappearance. He stated he dropped Phillips off at the bank that day and never saw her again, but other witnesses reported seeing the couple driving north on U.S. 41. Investigators believe Battles murdered her, but there is insufficient evidence to charge him in her case.

At the time of her disappearance, Margie Phillips stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 130 pounds. She had black/dark brown hair and brown eyes. In some reports, her missing year is listed as 1986.

Source: Margie Phillips, 30: Vanished On The Way To The Bank • Our Black Girls

I would like to know more about Willie Lee Battles.

 

[Diane Redfern]

Just curious if LE checked their bank accounts... I mean, even if their main supect is her boyfriend, it would be great to know if there were any movements on her bank account. How many employers were working in the bank that day?
It's just that the last sighting is so weird... if it's an excuse, it is very poor.

 

[Caring1]

Just curious if LE checked their bank accounts... I mean, even if their main supect is her boyfriend, it would be great to know if there were any movements on her bank account. How many employers were working in the bank that day?
It's just that the last sighting is so weird... if it's an excuse, it is very poor.

Below is quoted from original missing post above.

“None of the bank employees saw her go inside and there was no activity on her bank account that day”

“Witnesses reported seeing the couple driving north on U.S. 41”
I am doubtful they ever went to the bank (MOO)

“Battles said he fell asleep after they arrived at the bank and when he woke up, Phillips was gone and the business had closed”

This story sounds bogus like he was trying to account for the time he was gone and most likely disposing of Margie. (MOO)

U.S. 41 route below extends from Miami through Fort Myers and clear up beyond the border of FL. My thoughts are somewhere along the Tamiami Trail or possibly as far up to the national forest in Ocala. That’s just my opinion only.