Cold Case Chronicles: Unsolved crimes of Southwest Florida

Read stories regarding unsolved crimes in southwest Florida. View and interact with a national database of unsolved crimes. Compare Florida counties with our interactive map.

• Collier sheriff seeks leads in man’s mysterious 1993 disappearance Published 3/31/2011 at 7:15 p.m. 16 comments

  Rickey Walker had a few drinks with friends on a Saturday night before he and his car went missing on a summer day in East Naples. That was almost 18 years ago. In an effort to develop new leads, the ...

• Collier sheriff seeks help to solve theft of wedding dresses, tuxedos Published 2/20/2011 at 12:00 p.m. 16 comments

  The thief or thieves made off with $292,250 worth of computer equipment, mannequins and clothing – about 250 wedding dresses, 200 suits and 500 pairs of rental shoes in all, according to reports. In early May, the storage unit was ...

• Cold case: Collier detectives seek leads in 2010 slaying of melon harvester Published 1/28/2011 at 7:40 p.m. 4 comments

  Romero Antonio Figueroa was a big, strong man. While working at local melon farms, the 31-year-old, 260-pounder from Mexico worked as a “dumper,” hauling heavy loads and dumping them in the back of the waiting trucks, authorities say.

• Unsolved crime: DNA advances help Collier sheriff reopen slaying from 30 years ago Published 10/23/2010 at 12:25 p.m. 9 comments

  DNA evidence from a 29-year-old crime scene could lead Collier detectives to an arrest in a cold case. Pedro Julio Orosa came to the United States from Cuba during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, and a few months later, ...

• Unsolved crimes: Collier sheriff needs help in solving Immokalee robbery cold case Published 9/16/2010 at 12:58 p.m. 1 comment

  The three men in ski masks grabbed Andrea Villegas as she stepped out of work at La Mexicana #2 in November. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is featuring the case as part of an ongoing push to generate renewed attention ...

• Collier sheriff seeks help with unsolved 2004 body dumping of 20-year-old Published 8/13/2010 at 12:27 p.m. 7 comments

  Despite all the potential witnesses, and strong links to an attempted carjacking earlier in the day, Collier County sheriff’s detectives aren’t much closer to solving the killing of Elias Sanchez Balderas since the day it took place on April 12, ...

• Collier sheriff renews push to solve 2007 Immokalee arson fire that killed five Published 7/19/2010 at 3:51 p.m. 6 comments

  More than three years after someone started an Immokalee trailer on fire, killing five of the 10 people inside, the case is stalled. The Sheriff’s Office is featuring the arson fire as part of a renewed effort to raise awareness ...

• VIDEO/PHOTOS: Lee detectives arrest 67-year-old man on murder charges 29 years later Updated 7/2/2010 at 7:36 p.m. 2 comments

  It took 29 years and some good detective work, but authorities say James Edward Sims’ past finally caught up with him.

• Collier sheriff launches unsolved homicide initiative with 2007 Golden Gate slaying Published 6/17/2010 at 3:00 p.m. 0 comments

  The Collier Sheriff’s Office is featuring the Barbara Bisram case as part of a renewed effort to raise awareness of some of its unsolved homicides. The move comes on the heels of a recent Scripps Howard News Service and Daily ...

• Collier unsolved homicide from 40 years ago highlighted on Facebook Published 6/11/2010 at 6:04 p.m. 3 comments

  After nearly 40 years after Daniel Phillip Bergerson was found shot to death along U.S. 41 East near the Collier-Dade county line, Bergerson is on Facebook, thanks to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

• Collier sheriff sets plans to spotlight, hopefully clear, unsolved homicides Published 5/28/2010 at 4:02 p.m. 9 comments

  In an effort to generate new leads into some of the agency’s most difficult unsolved crimes, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office is making a renewed effort to highlight cold cases online and in the media. The Sheriff’s Office is also ...

• Cold Case Chronicles: Murders more likely to go unsolved in Florida’s major cities Published 5/24/2010 at 6:00 a.m. 0 comments

  It is within the anonymity of Florida’s big cities that the vast majority of the state’s homicides occur. At the same time, it is in these large, metro communities where murders most likely will go unsolved. Between 1980 and 2008, ...

• Cold Case Chronicles: Emotions strong decades later for Collier victims’ relatives (part 2) Published 5/22/2010 at 4:00 p.m. 13 comments

  Heartbroken relatives feel anger, hatred toward Collier sheriff's investigators who haven't solved their cold cases. Melody Gay. The Mettses. Homer Hassam. The murder victims' relatives still wait for an arrest to come, years or decades later.

• Cold Case Chronicles: Parents grieve, await arrest years after children slain in Lee (part 2) Published 5/22/2010 at 2:57 p.m. 3 comments

  Today, more than two years after the shooting, Willie Fletcher’s mother and a Fort Myers police detective continue the search for his killer. Both struggle to understand how, in a block full of potential witnesses, few gave information to the ...

• Cold Case Chronicles: She’s not a Lee deputy, but solving cold cases is her mission Published 5/22/2010 at 2:20 p.m. 0 comments

  Someone discovered the woman’s body in the water off St. James City, on Pine Island, in October 1995. Today, her file rests on the desk of Myra Simmons, a civilian cold case investigator with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. Despite ...

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