SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Nearly 36 years after a 7-year-old girl was abducted from a Tampa bowling alley and sexually battered, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said it has identified the suspect through advances in DNA testing and genetic genealogy.
Nearly 36 years after a 7-year-old girl was abducted from a Tampa bowling alley and sexually battered, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said it has identified the suspect through advances in DNA testing and genetic genealogy.(Hillsborough County Sheriff)
Investigators identified the suspect as Young Tom Talmadge, 70, who was living in the Philippines, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said the girl was at Tampa Lanes on North Dale Mabry Highway on Nov. 20, 1989, when an adult man approached her, lured her to his vehicle and abducted her. Over the next several hours, investigators said she was sexually battered before being released near Crown Lanes on West Hillsborough Avenue.
The sheriff’s office said biological evidence collected in 1989 produced a viable DNA profile. But despite a large-scale investigation, the case eventually went cold. The profile was later entered into CODIS in 2005, and no match was found, authorities said.
The case was reopened in 2022 as DNA technology improved and with grant funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, according to HCSO. Detectives reinterviewed the victim, witnesses and original responding personnel. Additional DNA testing was then carried out with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement between 2023 and early 2024.
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In October 2023, FDLE conducted familial DNA testing, but no matches were found, according to the release. Two months later, FDLE’s Genetic Genealogy Investigations Team began researching distant relatives of the suspect. After about 11 months of genealogical and analytical work, the team gave HCSO a lead on the possible identity of the suspect, authorities said.
That investigation led detectives to Talmadge.
In December 2024, HCSO partnered with Homeland Security Investigations Tampa, which then coordinated with HSI Manila and Philippine law enforcement authorities to locate him and obtain a DNA sample, according to the sheriff’s office. Authorities said surveillance operations in February 2025 led to the successful collection of that sample.
In March 2025, forensic analysis confirmed the overseas DNA sample matched the DNA recovered from the 1989 crime scene, investigators said.
An arrest warrant was issued March 21, 2025, charging Talmadge with four counts of sexual battery involving a victim younger than 12 with a defendant 18 or older, one count of a lewd and lascivious act on a child, and one count of kidnapping to commit a felony on a child, according to HCSO.
Philippine authorities and HSI Manila agents took Talmadge into custody on April 23, 2025, and began deportation proceedings, the department said. After legal delays, he was ordered removed.(Hillsborough County Sheriff)
Philippine authorities and HSI Manila agents took Talmadge into custody on April 23, 2025, and began deportation proceedings, the department said. After legal delays, he was ordered removed.
The sheriff’s office said Talmadge was returned to the United States by the Philippine National Police on April 21, 2026, and arrived the next day. He is being held at Rikers Island in New York while awaiting extradition to Hillsborough County, according to HCSO.
“For nearly four decades, this victim has carried the weight of a horrific crime,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “Today, we deliver what she has long deserved: answers and accountability.”
HSI Tampa acting Special Agent in Charge Micah McCombs said the case reflects both persistence and advancements in DNA analysis technology.
“This investigation is a testament to the power of persistence and the incredible advances in DNA analysis technology,” McCombs said in the release.
FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass called the case a long-overdue step toward justice for the victim.
HCSO said the investigation remains active.
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