PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unite said they closed a missing person's case after 42 years.
According to PCSO, detectives received a notification from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiners Office on June 7, identifying a missing John Doe as Ronald Gilchrist.
Detectives said then-29-year-old Gilchrist left his home in Clearwater on Oct. 28, 1980, to go to Miami. Gilchrist was driving a 1977 Ford 4-door and was supposed to arrive at the Miami International Airport on Nov. 3, 1980, to pick up his in-laws and bring them to Marco Island.
On Oct. 29, 1980, detectives said Gilchrist called a family member from a restaurant payphone in Mulberry. Gilchrist never arrived at the airport and was not seen or heard from since.
According to PCSO, detectives sent photos of Gilchrist from 1980 to investigators at the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office. Miami-Dade Police investigated a murder of a John Doe in November 1980 and PCSO detectives learned that John Doe matched a similar description of Gilchrist.
Next of kin has been notified, and Miami-Dade Police is continuing the murder investigation of Ronald Gilchrist.
