In 1983, This 20-Year-Old Woman Was Found Floating In A River Wearing Just Her Sandals And Earrings, And Her Case Has Remained Cold Ever Since
In 1983, Michelle Hart was a twenty-year-old known as a free spirit. She lived with her boyfriend, Mickey Kirlin, in a van in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, and impacted every person she met.
“Michelle was somebody to everybody who knew her,” said Judith Hampson, Michelle’s mother.
But, early that year, Michelle, unfortunately, lost her job. She had previously worked on a shrimp fishing boat and spent the morning of February 11, 1983, searching for a new job opportunity.
Afterward, Michelle returned home to her van to change clothes before hitchhiking to a meeting with her attorney.
According to her family, Michelle often hitchhiked to get around and was very trusting of strangers.
She made it safely to her attorney’s office–whom she met with from 3:30 p.m. until about 4:30 p.m. But, Michelle never took the bus back to Fort Myers beach as planned.
Instead, she went to a local pool hall known as Pic-Wic.
Everyone who knew Michelle knew how much she loved playing pool. And the twenty-year-old reportedly stayed at Pic-Wic until around 10:00 p.m. Some witnesses reported seeing Michelle trying to hitch a ride back to her van.
Facebook; pictured above is Michelle
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But, after that evening, she was never seen alive again.
Instead, her body was discovered the following day– February 12, 1983– by three young boys.
Michelle was found floating nude in the Caloosahatchee River, wearing only her sandals and earrings.
Her autopsy revealed that she had been dead for about twelve hours before the discovery and had suffered numerous traumatic blows from a heavy pipe-shaped object– possibly a tire iron or large screwdriver.
In an interview with News-Press following the tragedy, boyfriend Mickey explained why he was initially not phased when Michelle did not return home on the night of February 11.
“We had a little fight just before she left for town, and I just thought she was messing with my head. The next day– I got real drunk Friday night– I was reading the paper, and I read about the cops finding this body,” Mickey began.
“And when I got to the description of the woman and [learned] about the tattoo on her left shoulder, I got real scared, and I called the cops,” he continued.
Later that day, Mickey was tasked with the difficult responsibility of identifying Michelle’s body.
And upon launching an investigation, authorities did believe that she might have left Pic-Wic with a twenty-five-year-old man who offered to give her a ride home.
The man was of medium build and had sandy brown hair and a full red beard.
Despite the possible suspect, though, Michelle’s case has remained cold for over thirty-nine years.
No new evidence has ever been presented, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has since offered a cash reward of up to one thousand dollars to anyone with information regarding the case.
If you know the identity of the suspect or have any other knowledge about Michelle’s murder, you are encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (239) 477-1000.
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