Flat-Tire murders
Flat-Tire murders | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Victims | 12–35+ |
Span of crimes | 1975 – 1976 (Confirmed) |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Florida, possibly others |
Date apprehended | Never apprehended |
The Flat-Tire murders were a series of unsolved murders in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, Florida, occurring between February 1975 and January 1976. The name originated from the investigators' belief that, when the offender committed two of the murders, he had deflated the tires of the victims' cars. The list of suspected victims ultimately included twelve girls and women whose bodies were discovered in or near South Florida canals.[1][2] The murders were the subject of a 2021 book entitled The Flat Tire Murders: Unsolved Crimes of a South Florida Serial Killer.
Crimes
The suspected perpetrator was described as a
streams or leaving them near embankments. A total of thirty-five such murders were recorded.[2]
Suspect
In August 2023, the Broward County Sheriff's office announced that they identified a known felon as a suspect by using DNA collected from the clothing of the victims. The suspect's name is Robert Clark Keebler. Law enforcement considers it possible that Keebler had an accomplice.[3] Keebler apparently was born in May 1953 and died in July 2019.[4]
Victims
- 19-year-old Judith Ann “Judy” Oesterling, from Miami-Dade County.[5]
- Barbara Davis Stephens, 23, went missing on the evening of February 12, 1975, after she said she would travel to Coral Gables to visit a friend. Her car, a cream-olive-silver 1973 Chevrolet Camaro was later found in a parking lot near the center of Miami,[6] with her body later found on February 20 in a wooded lot.[7] She was wearing her clothes, but her underwear had been pulled down and she had been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen.
- 17-year-old Arietta Marie “Renie” Tinker was dropped off by her husband at the Hippopotamus Lounge on Hollywood Beach in Highway 27 in Miramar Beach, Florida. She was believed to have drowned and, although there were no obvious signs of foul play, detectives suspected she was murdered.[5]
- 19-year-old Nancy Lee Fox from Broward County; she had been struck over the back of the head with a blunt object and choked before her body was thrown into the water.[5]
- Barbara Susan “Barbie” Schreiber and Belinda Darlene Zetterower, both 14, were last seen on June 18, 1975, leaving Schreiber's home in sexually assaulted.
- 14-year-old Robin Leslie Losch was found dead on July 10, 1975, by a family vacationing from Highway 27 canal, about half a mile from where Schreiber and Zetterower's bodies were found. She was reported missing by her parents two days earlier when she failed to return home from summer classes at Stranahan High School. She had drowned and unlike the other victims, she was found fully clothed.[5]
- 27-year-old respiratory therapist Ronnie Sue Gorlin went missing on July 22, 1975, after leaving her Miami Beach apartment to visit her mother at Parkway Hospital.[9] The next day, her naked body was found in the Graham Canal, with signs that she had been sexually assaulted and then stabbed to death. Her car, a rented burgundy-white Oldsmobile Cutlass, was found in a shopping center parking lot with a slashed tire.[7]
- Eight days later on July 30, 1975, 21-year-old Elyse Rapp, originally from New York City, left her apartment to go shopping, and was last seen at a Hollywood mall that evening. Her car, a rented yellow Chevrolet Vega, was found in the mall's parking lot, also with a deflated tire. The day after, Rapp's body was found in the same canal where Gorlin's body was found earlier.[9][10] Following a forensic autopsy, it was determined that Rapp's cause of death was drowning, but she had been sexually assaulted prior to her death.[10]
- 15-year-old Mary Coppolla and 27-year-old Marlene Annabelli, had both arrived in Fort Lauderdale from Pennsylvania on October 17, 1975, renting a room for a one-week stay at the Lauderdale Beach Club. Their bodies, strangled with a rope, were found by a motorcyclist nine days later in a dump outside the city.[11]
- The body of 17-year-old Michelle Winters was found floating in the hitchhike.[12]
See also
Bibliography
- Michael Newton (2009). The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes. Infobase Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-4381-1914-4. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- Michael P. Burns (2021). The Flat Tire Murders: Unsolved Crimes of a South Florida Serial Killer. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476645223. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
References
- ^ a b Barbara Malone (August 27, 1975). "'Jack Ripper' hunted in 2 canal murders". The Miami News.
- ^ a b c "Canal killings may be connected to 33 other similar slayings". Williamson Daily News. August 28, 1975.
- ^ Hamacher • •, Brian (August 23, 2023). "Suspect identified in brutal 1975 murder of two teen girls in Broward".
- ^ "Everyday Information - Check People, Phone Numbers, Vehicles & Addresses | BeenVerified". www.beenverified.com.
- ^ a b c d e Edna Buchanan and Brad Swanson (August 6, 1975). "The 8 Murders Along the Canals of Dade and Broward Counties, The Deadly Puzzle Began". Evening Independent.
- ^ "Blonde abandons cars, disappears". The Miami News. February 14, 1975.
- ^ a b Bill Osinski (July 24, 1975). "Similarities in 6 area murders probed by Dade, Broward cops". The Miami News.
- ^ "2 Florida Girls Slain On Way to Friend's". The Pittsburgh Press. June 21, 1975.
- ^ a b "FLAT TIRE MURDER RONNIE GORLIN ELYSE RAPP". The Miami News. 1975-08-27. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
- ^ a b Jon Hall (August 2, 1975). "Killer's play; vandalize cars, then offer help". The Miami News.
- Sun-Sentinel.
- ^ "Mother Makes Appeal in Michelle's Murder". Sun-Sentinel. January 15, 1976.