ST. PETE, Fla. — After 46 years, St. Pete police have identified their final John Doe as 29-year-old Johnny Bradshaw of Tennessee.
Police said Bradshaw was staying at the Siesta Motel on 34th Street with Jack Roy Davis back in April of 1980, when they were both shot in the head.
According to a news release, suspect David Ann Thomas fatally shot suspect and her partner Kyle Watson when they made it back to Knoxville, and before detectives could arrest the couple.
Police charged Thomas for being an accessory after the fact, as Thomas was the getaway driver in the St. Pete double homicide, according to the release.
She served prison time, but has since passed away.
At the time of the crime, police said Davis was identified as a victim right away, but Bradshaw’s identity was unknown. In hopes of getting answers, detectives sent out an artist’s rendering of Bradshaw. They also circulated a photo of the Italian horn pendant he wore.
Detectives dug Bradshaw’s body in 2010, hoping to identify him, but to no avail.
Finally, police said Othram Labs was able to develop a DNA profile from analyzing new bone samples sent from Cold Case Det. Wallace Pavelski. And through genealogy research over the next few years led Det. Pavelski to connecting with Bradshaw’s family members in Texas and California.
Bradshaw had two living sisters who had been searching for him since 1980.
This identification completes St. Pete police’s cold case list.
5 dead in Sarasota shooting ID’d, linked to Ft. Lauderdale double homicide
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said five people are dead after a shooting in a Sarasota neighborhood, including a suspect authorities say may be connected to a double homicide in Fort Lauderdale.
5 dead in Sarasota shooting ID’d, linked to Ft. Lauderdale double homicide: SCSO