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Unsolved Florida: Playboy Bunny Murder
FOX 13's Genevieve Curtis reports.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Nearly four decades after the brutal murder of a young St. Petersburg woman, investigators are once again searching for answers using modern forensic science to revisit a mystery that has lingered since the summer of 1984.
The victim, Carolyn Merricks, was just 28 years old when she was found stabbed to death inside her South St. Petersburg apartment.
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What we know:
When Merricks’ sister couldn’t reach her, relatives went to check on her apartment — that’s when they made the horrific discovery.
"The relatives were trying to get a hold of her. They couldn’t find her," said St. Petersburg Police Detective Wally Pavelski. "I think they ended up going to the house and finding her."
Detectives arrived to what they described as a violent scene.
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"She was located on the floor just inside a doorway. It looked like a struggle had occurred in the apartment," Pavelski said.
Investigators said Merricks had been stabbed multiple times.
Who was Carolyn Merricks?
Friends described her as beautiful, fun and intelligent. Merricks, who grew up in Bartow before moving to St. Pete, left behind a 10-year-old son and a large family.
The backstory:
She worked as a cocktail waitress at the Tierra Verde Yacht Club, but before that, she also spent time working as a server at the Suncoast Playboy Club.
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In the 1980s, the club attracted hundreds of hopeful applicants for its coveted bunny server positions. Wearing the club’s signature uniform, complete with bunny ears and a bow tie, Merricks worked under the name "Bunny Chandra."
In 1983, she was named Suncoast Playboy Bunny of the Year, winning a competition that included a trip to Los Angeles.
Friends said she was also one of the first Black Playboy Bunny servers at the club, but the glamour of the club’s image would later cast a shadow over the investigation.
The murder investigation
After Merricks’ murder, some wondered whether her killing could have been connected to her notoriety or her work at the club. Detectives said investigators, at the time, thoroughly examined that possibility.
"They went over everybody that was personally known to her… anybody at the club that she had contact with, or at the apartment complex," Pavelski said. "But, they weren’t able to forensically link them back to the scene at the time."
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Investigators said the crime scene did not appear to be a robbery, and that detectives also believed Merricks likely knew the person who killed her.
"She’s not going to let you into her house unless she knows you," Pavelski said. "Looking at her lifestyle and the way her relatives speak about her, it could have been somebody she knew."
Local perspective:
During the 1980s, several other women in St. Petersburg were also killed in stabbing attacks, raising fears about a possible serial killer. Neighbors in South St. Petersburg even held community meetings to discuss their concerns, but detectives said those cases likely were not connected.
"Each one has their differences, which would probably rule out a pattern," Pavelski said.
Dig deeper:
One of the most chilling links to the Playboy club came in 1983 when Linda Lanson, the photographer who took photos of Merricks winning Bunny of the Year, was found murdered in Tampa. Lanson had been raped and shot.
Her killing — along with the murder of another woman, Barbara Grams, was eventually solved decades later through DNA evidence. In 2020, investigators connected convicted killers Amos Robinson and Abron Scott to those crimes.
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However, both men were already in prison at the time Merricks was murdered in 1984, ruling them out as suspects in her case.
Revisiting Carolyn Merricks' murder case
Detective Pavelski is now revisiting the case with modern technology unavailable to investigators decades ago. Among the tools now being used is advanced hair analysis and genetic genealogy.
"We’ve been able to work with a couple labs to do individual hair analysis on the case," Pavelski said.
Those tests could potentially identify unknown DNA or even lead investigators to relatives of a suspect through genealogy databases.
Big picture view:
For detectives, and Merricks’ family, solving the case is about more than closing a file — it’s about accountability and understanding why the crime happened.
"I’d like to hold somebody accountable and be able to talk to them and ask them why," Pavelski said. "The family members want to know why too. Why did this have to happen to my loved one?"
Nearly 40 years later, that question still remains unanswered, but investigators hope modern science may finally reveal the truth behind the death of Merricks.
What you can do:
Anyone with information about Carolyn Merricks’ death is asked to contact the St. Petersburg Police Department.
The Source: Sources for this report include an interview with a cold case detective from the St. Petersburg Police Department, newspaper archives and archives on past stories from FOX 13.