PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – Nearly 39 years after Melissa “Missy” Taylor Ellison was killed in her Jacksonville home, her daughter gathered Saturday with the people who knew her mother best for a private celebration of Missy’s life.
Casie Ellison was just 13 months old when her mother was killed on Dec. 28, 1987. She survived that night and was found unharmed on a couch inside the home.
On Saturday, family members and lifelong friends gathered at The Link at Nocatee for a Prayer for Justice and Celebration of Missy’s Life. The private event included prayer, music, photos and stories meant to help Casie learn more about the mother she never had the chance to grow up with.
Missy’s sister, Glenda Blandford, said she began planning the event months before an arrest was made in the cold case earlier this year.
“I just felt like the whole group needed to be together because I feel like the more prayers going up, a better blessing coming down,” Blandford said. “I started calling Missy’s friends and asked them how they would feel about coming and joining us for a prayer event.”
Blandford said Missy’s friends were eager to attend, but also saddened because they continue to grieve her death.
“They were all for it, and they were excited. They were saddened because they still grieve her the same way our family does,” Blandford said. “Missy had a lot of friends, and I mean a lot.”
As more people filled the room, they also got a chance to meet Casie, who said the stories she has heard over the years have helped her get to know her mother.
“The stories that I’ve heard of her in her short 20 years of life make me want to be a better person,” Casie Ellison said. “That makes me want to be memorable. So I’m happy to be here.”
Blandford said Casie carries many reminders of Missy.
“She has so much of Missy’s mannerisms,” Blandford said. “She has her smile. She has her eyes. There’s so much about her that is Missy. It’s so hard some days to look at her and not cry.”
The celebration included photos, hugs and shades of purple. Casie said the color was a nod to one of her mother’s favorite artists and songs.
“My mom loved Prince, and her favorite song was ‘Purple Rain,’ so this is us celebrating her and her quirks and just dancing in the purple rain,” Casie said.
The gathering followed a major development in the case, which had gone unsolved for nearly four decades. Blandford said Project Cold Case helped renew attention on her sister’s case nine years ago.
“If it weren’t for them, we would definitely not be here because my sister’s case was in a file on a shelf covered in dust until we got with Project Cold Case,” Blandford said.
In July, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 70-year-old Gary Edward Glowacz in connection with Missy’s death. Glowacz is charged with second-degree murder and burglary with assault or battery. He has pleaded not guilty.
“We did not know him. My sister did not know him. None of my family knew him,” Blandford said.
Blandford said the family is grateful for the arrest but is still seeking accountability.
“It’s still on because an arrest is not a conviction,” Blandford said. “An arrest is just an arrest. And everybody’s innocent until they’re proven guilty. And we have no justice until somebody is held accountable.”
Anyone with information that could help investigators in this or any unsolved case can contact First Coast Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-866-845-TIPS.
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