Cold case cracked: Miami murder victim identified as missing Clearwater man who vanished in 1980
Ronald Gilchrist image courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says it has closed the case of a missing Clearwater man who vanished on his way to Miami in 1980.
Detectives say 29-year-old Ronald Gilchrist left his residence at 6933 Bonner Avenue in Clearwater on October 28, 1980, to travel to Miami.
Deputies say he was driving a 1977 Ford 4-door vehicle and was supposed to pick up his in-laws in November at the Miami International Airport to take them to Marco Island, but he never showed up.
According to PCSO, Gilchrist called a family member on October 29, 1980, from a restaurant pay phone in Mulberry, Florida, and vanished.
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Detectives gave investigators at the Dade Police Department and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office photos of Gilchrist in hopes of locating the missing man. That’s when they learned the police in Miami had investigated a homicide of an unidentified man in November 1980.
Detectives say the John Doe homicide victim matched the description of Gilchrist and positively identified him on June 7, 2023.
PCSO says it has closed Gilchrist’s missing person case and the Miami-Dade Police Department will continue investigating his homicide.