During a period between February 1975 and January 1976, a series of despicable unsolved murders sent shockwaves through Broward County and Miami-Dade Counties in Florida. The eerie pattern emerged as 12 young girls and women were discovered either in or near the canals of South Florida, their lives tragically cut short.
As investigators delved deeper into the troubling cases, forensic experts found themselves divided in their opinions. While some questioned the possibility of a sole perpetrator being responsible for these heinous acts, others went even further, theorizing that the same murderer might have claimed the lives of more than 30 women across multiple states.
The lingering question remains: Were these tragic events the work of one twisted individual, or were multiple killers haunting the region during this dark chapter of history?
As the years have passed, the search for answers continues, and the families of the victims hope for justice to prevail. The unresolved nature of these crimes serves as a haunting reminder of the mysteries that lie unsolved and the souls yet to find peace.
Judith Ann Oesterling, 20
So this story starts on February 1st, 1975 in hot sunny Florida with the first possible victim of the flat tire murderer.
A 20-year-old woman originally from Indiana, by the name of Judith Ann Oesterling, went missing from Miami-Dade County on February 1, 1975.
She is thought to have gone missing after she got off work for the night. She worked at a massage parlor in the Miami area and was supposed to be on her way home after her shift was over.
Two days after her disappearance, her body was found floating in the canal that borders Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.
Roughly 10 months later, a woman named Sue Jane Walter, who was also known as “Tiger Sue” confessed that she and her boyfriend, Clearance Carnivale beat Judith unconscious and threw her into a polluted canal one-half mile west of U.S. 27 and left her to drown. According to Sue, the two did this because Judith refused to perform sexual acts with the couple.
As far as we know, Sue was booked and charged with 1st-degree murder and was held without bond.
As for Clearance, he was murdered four months after Judith’s murder, on June 13th, 1975.
Barbra Davis Stephens, 21
Only 11 days later, another woman would go missing.
On February 12, 1975, Barbra Davis Stephens planned on having a chill evening visiting a friend in Coral Gables.
She left her parent’s home in Southwest Miami around 7 pm. On her way there, Barbra decided to stop at a gold triangle store that was across from the Dadeland Mall. Here, she bought a couple new rock ‘n roll records, walked out of the store, and seemed to vanish into thin air.
She never made it to her friend’s house and by the next morning, a coworker of hers became seriously concerned when they found Barbra’s ‘73 cream-olive-silver Camaro in the Gold Triangle parking lot abandoned with the doors unlocked, keys in the ignition, and traces of blood on her steering wheel.
Eight days later, Barbra’s body was found in a patch of woods behind a grocery store. This was at the corner of SW 87th Avenue and Sunset Drive. While she was wearing the same clothes that her father last saw her in, her pants were pulled down. Investigators also found one of her shoes laying a short distance away from her.
The investigation that took place after she was found revealed that Barbra was stabbed multiple times in her abdomen before being left in those woods.
So investigators had her car that they could search and in it, they found blood, dust, and grass in and on it. This led authorities to believe that her killer had used the car to transport her to the dump site and then returned the Camaro to the Golden Triangle.
Arietta Tinker, 17
After Barbra’s murder, the spree seemed to have stopped. Roughly two months pass by before another similarly tragic discovery would be made.
On April 9, 1975, a 17-year-old girl named Arietta Tinker was dropped off by her husband at the Hippopotamus Lounge on Hollywood Beach around 1 pm. He offered her a ride home, but she declined, assuring him that she could find her way back alone.
Arietta never made it home that night. She was last seen at the Lum’s Restaurant near Young Circle which was only a little over a half mile from her house.
Three days would pass before she was found… floating in Snake Creek Canal.
This canal was situated about a half-mile east of Highway 27 in Miramar, Florida. This was the same area where Judith was found just three months prior.
Some reports differ as to whether she was discovered by an off-duty officer riding his bike or four teens who were out fishing.
Although there were no signs of foul play, detectives suspect that drowned in the canal. They speculate that she was murdered because they couldn’t explain how else she would wind up dead so far away with no car.
Barbra Susan Schreiber, 14 and Belinda Darlene Zetterower, 14
Again, there was another two-month period where there were no other reports or murders similar to these three thus far.
But on June 8th the hiatus was broken.
Barbra Schreiber and Belinda Zetterower were two young girls, both at the age of 14. On the evening of June 8th, they left the Schreiber home in Hollywood Florida to go spend the night at another friend, Valerie’s house.
On their way out, they told Barbra’s mother and then left.
The next morning, a family was out boating when they found the two girls laying side by side along the canal parallel to Highway 27. This was about 4 miles north of Andytown which was an outpost for truckers and fishermen, but no longer exists.
The girls were found fully clothed, but there are conflicting reports about whether or not they were sexually abused or not. One article states that there was no conclusive evidence that they were, but one of them was found with their underwear on backward.
After autopsies were conducted, it was found that both Barbra and Belinda were shot once with a large caliber bullet. Investigators believe it may have been a .45. Because there was so much blood at the scene, they also think that the girls were forced to lay down, were shot, and their bodies abandoned.
When investigators spoke to Valerie she shared that neither of the girls had never made any plans to sleepover and that this was an excuse they would often use when they wanted to go somewhere without their parents knowing.
There are a lot of conflicting reports on their movements that night, but newspaper accounts most commonly state that they visited another friend’s house and were last seen at the intersection of Route 441 and Hollywood Blvd and were later seen walking trying to hitch a ride.
Nancy Lee Fox, 19
After this, there was no break...
On June 13th, 1975, just 6 days after Barbra and Belinda were found, another woman was found floating in the canal parallel to Highway 27 in Broward County.
Investigators identified her as Nancy Lee Fox.
Nancy had reportedly moved to Fort Lauderdale earlier that year in the hopes of escaping an unhappy love triangle involving her sister and a man named William Moore.
Nancy was last seen alive on June 13. Some reports share that she was hitchhiking while some say she was walking to a laundromat and some say she had just gotten off of work and was walking back to her apartment right before she disappeared.
Nancy was struck over the back of her head with a blunt object and was choked before her body was thrown into the water.
So, there were at least two suspects in Nancy’s murder. The first, a man named Walter Wirth. Walter was a convicted rapist who had abducted 18-year-old, Cheryl Ives, from a laundromat. This laundromat was just over a mile away from Nancy’s Apartment and the incident reportedly took place just over 24 hours after her body was discovered.
Wirth had slit Cheryl’s throat with a razor blade when she tried to escape him. Somehow she miraculously survived the attack and was able to help provide officers with vital information which led to Wirth’s arrest shortly after her attack.
The second suspect in Nancy’s case was reported as a man who was involved in a love triangle with her. His name was never referenced but is widely accepted that it was William Moore. Today, we do not know if either of these men are suspected of the crime still and her case remains unsolved.
Robin Leslie Losch, 14
More tragedy struck about a month later on July 10th when a family vacationing from Fort Myers, FL spotted an arm sticking out of the Highway 27 canal. This was about 10 miles south of where Barbra, Belinda and Nancy were found.
This body was quickly identified as Robin Leslie Losch. Robin was 14 years old and was reported missing by her parents just two days earlier after she didn’t return home from her summer classes at Stranahan High School.
An autopsy revealed that Robin likely drowned. Because there were no other injuries to her, investigators could not definitively determine whether she was a victim of foul play or an unfortunate accident.
Investigators
By this time, law enforcement in the area were finding it hard to deny any connections between these cases. Unfortunately, they didn’t have sufficient evidence to track down any promising leads.
Unfortunately, investigators wouldn’t have to wait too long because 12 days later another woman would go missing again.
Ronnie Sue Gorlin, 27
Ronnie Sue Gorlin was 27, worked as a respiratory therapist, and was living in Pennsylvania with her fiance at the time. The two had lived there together for about a year so far. She was actually visiting Hallandale for a few weeks to see her parents while also making some wedding plans with them.
On the afternoon of July 22nd, 1975, she planned to meet up with some of her old coworkers to catch up and tell them about her wedding plans. After chatting with them, she told them that she wanted to stop by the 163rd Street Shopping Center before heading to the Parkway General Hospital at 2 pm to see her mother where she was being treated for a stomach bug.
Ronnie never showed up at the hospital that day and was never seen alive again.
The next day, about three hours after her father had reported her missing, a survey crew found her floating in the Ghram Canal. She was found naked with signs of being sexually assaulted and then stabbed to death.
An autopsy was performed by Dr. Ronald Wright, the county’s chief medical examiner at the time. This revealed that she was indeed raped and sexually mutilated before drowning in the canal. The autopsy results also suggested that she had been in the canal since Tuesday night. Police were unsure if she was knocked unconscious before being thrown into the canal or possibly held down in the water until she drowned, but the only article of clothing left on her was one sandal.
Her car was later found in the Hollywood Mall parking lot, blocking traffic with a slashed tire on the front right side.
Police speculate whether she ever made it to the mall. They explain that she was a punctual person and by leaving the Children’s Asthmatic Foundation just a half hour before her planned visit with her mother, there would have been almost no time to stop and shop. Police believe that, based on that theory, the murderer may have confronted her outside the Asthmatic Foundation, forced her to drive to the remote canal where she was murdered, and then drove her car to the mall parking lot.
Elyse Rapp, 21
Eight days after Ronnie was found, on July 30th, 21-year-old Elyse Rapp left her apartment to go out for a quick shopping trip. Elyse was originally from New York and had recently moved down to Florida for work in June of 1975.
The next morning, a construction worker found Elyse in the same canal, Graham Canal, and only blocks away from where Ronnie was found. Elyse was also found naked with only a necklace with the Hebrew inscription for “life” around her neck.
After her autopsy, it was determined that her cause of death was drowning after being struck in the head, but she had also been sexually assaulted before her death. Dr. Wright also noted that she was sexually mutilated in a very similar way to Ronnie, but found it to be more vicious.
Later on, the same night that her body was discovered, her Chevy Vega was found at the Sears Hollywood Mall parking lot with one tire slashed.
In both of these cases, the killer chose women who were traveling alone. It is assumed that while shopping or being away from their cars for some time, he deflated their vehicle’s tires and waited for them to return, offering to fix their tires presenting himself as a good samaritan.
After these two women were found, police couldn’t deny that there was a possible serial killer active in the Miami area. So far there were a total of 9 young women who were killed in South Florida all in a very similar manner.
Mary Coppola, 15
Again, the suspected serial murderer seemed to have gone quiet after the death of Elyse Rapp.
However, another body was found in the fall of 1975.
Mary Coppola was a 15-year-old sophomore at South Gate High School. She lived with her parents in Homestead, Florida which is about 40 miles south of Miami.
She was one of 6 children. Although she grew up in a stable and loving home, she was troubled and ran away from home a few times. Once in August 1975 her mom found her at a Burger King and brought her home. She was described as an average student who was well-liked and friendly.
In her freshman year of high school, she began dating an older guy who was in his 20s. While Mary was a good kid previously, this guy was a bad influence. Her friends explained that she was always on the straight and narrow and that the worst thing she ever really did was smoke cigarettes.
But this guy over time, got Mary into drugs and she began to follow in his unsavory footsteps.
Her parents eventually contacted Genesis Outreach, a counseling center for youth with current or previous drug problems. Mary began going there in the summer of 1975. One of her counselors described her as troubled over peer pressure, parents, friends, and drugs.
On September 2nd, 1975 Mary was scheduled to meet with her counselor. That day her mother dropped her off at the facility and later on, her parents reported her missing after she didn’t make it home.
About three months later, on January 1st, 1976, hunters were out near the Monroe/Dade County line and found bones spread around in about a 50-foot wide area. This location was also reportedly 20 feet from a canal.
After testing, it was found that the bones belonged to Mary, but due to the condition of the remains, a cause of death could not be determined. It is believed though, that she died in early September shortly after she went missing.
Marlene Annabelli, 27
So, unfortunately, we are not done going through the victims yet…
Marlene Annabelle was living in Pennsylvania and working as a secretary. She was married but had been separated from her husband for a short while. In an attempt to rekindle their relationship, the two booked a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
For whatever reason, Marlene ended up flying to Florida alone. She arrived in Fort Lauderdale from Pennsylvania on October 17, 1975. She met up with some friends that lived in town and they drove her to the Fort Lauderdale Beach Club where she had a room rented for her one-week stay.
Was last seen alive on October 22nd, 1975 at 9:30 am by housekeeping staff at the beach club. The witness remembered seeing Marlene in a blue or purple dress as she left her room that day.
After a few days of finding the room untouched, the maid found it odd as if no one was staying in the room any longer.
By October 25th, three days after Marlene was last seen or heard from, her local friends became worried and decided to contact the hotel in hopes they would have some information. After these accounts, the hotel staff called the police that same day.
The following day, a man named Luther Hill living in Cooper City in Western Dade County began noticing the overwhelming smell of rotting flesh.
Near his house, there was a sort of dumping ground where kids would mess around or people would often go shooting. Near the end of the road in this field off of 163rd Ave and Griffin Road, Hill began looking around cautiously. After walking into some tall weeds, he saw two feet sticking out underneath a sheet of plywood. Once he saw this, he rode off on his bike to call the police.
This body was identified as Marlene. She had been strangled with a rope and was still wearing her blue/purple dress. She had no shoes on and no handbag near her but still had jewelry on.
Her autopsy concluded that she had been severely beaten in her abdomen, but had not been not sexually assaulted. Her cause of death was strangulation. Her body was so badly beaten that her husband could not definitively identify her and authorities had to use dental records to confirm that it was indeed her.
The investigation that followed her death revealed that Marlene had not used a cab before her disappearance and police believe that she had been walking along the beach when she was abducted.
Michelle Winters, 17
The 12th and final victim of the supposed serial killer was Michelle Winters. A 17-year-old who was last seen in early January in Fort Lauderdale. The friends that saw her last explained that Michelle was sharing with them that she had been depressed and was planning on enlisting in the Navy.
Michelle’s body was found floating in Snapper Creek in Pembroke Pines on January 11, 1976. Michelle’s mother told investigators that she thought it might be likely that her daughter voluntarily entered her killer’s car, as she often preferred to hitchhike.
Investigation
The suspected perpetrator was profiled and described as a white male, aged 20-25 at the time, well-dressed, physically athletic and attractive, possibly with an above-average IQ, and a sexual sadist. Using his charm, he would win the trust of his potential victims and then lure them into his car. A reward of $1,000 was announced for any information that would lead to his capture.
Sgt. Edwin Carlstedt of Sonoma County, California, has suggested that the notorious Flat-Tire Murderer may have been accountable for over 30 murders spanning multiple states during the 1970s, with the killing spree originating in California.
The killings in California abruptly ceased in December of 1973, but nine more similar murders were recorded in Washington the following year. These stopped in September. After Washinton, more strings of killings happened in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. These all had very similar MOs.
Across the nation, these series of cases share so many similarities. The victims, bearing striking physical resemblances, were subjected to brutal beatings and sexual assault before meeting their tragic end. The perpetrator would strip the bodies and discard them in canals, streams, or nearby embankments. In total, there are 35 murders, which according to this theory, were committed by the same man, but this has not been proven.
Some true crime enthusiasts as well as some investigators theorize that the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy could have been the culprit since he was at large in Florida in 1978, but so far, no evidence has been recorded of him being present in Florida during 1975. In fact, committed murders in Colorado from January to April of 1975, in Idaho in May of 1975, and in Utah in June of 1975. On August 16th, Bundy was arrested in Ganger, Utah after a chase by a highway patrol officer, but was released the next day.
In October of 1975, Bundy was identified in a line-up by Carol DaRonch, who he tried to abduct in November of 1974. He was then arrested and charged with the crime and was held in Salk Lake County Jail.
So clearly, the Flat-Tire Murderer couldn’t have been Ted Bundy.
Throughout the process of researching these cases, there were no mentions of any DNA or even for that matter, evidence collection so we really just don’t know what authorities have and if any of it can be tested today. Sadly, to this day, these murders remain unsolved due to a lack of evidence.
Source Material
https://coldcaseproject.medium.com/who-is-the-flat-tire-killer-45121fa67fec
https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-ted-bundys-brutal-crimes/story?id=61077236
https://www.newspapers.com/article/40933195/flat-tire-murder-ronnie-gorlin-elyse/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/59587607/canal-killers-ploy-page-one-02/
Image Sources
Comentários