Rose Marie Gayhart was reported missing in March 1985 by her parents, who lived in Dansville, New York<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before her disappearance, Gayhart was last known to be living and working in the Cape Coral and North Fort Myers area, according to the Cape Coral Police Department.<\/p>\n Investigators have been searching for Rose Marie Gayhart since 1985, when the 23-year-old disappeared from southwest Florida. (Cape Coral Police Department)<\/p>\n TEEN FOUND IN SHALLOW CALIFORNIA VINEYARD GRAVE IDENTIFIED NEARLY 50 YEARS LATER AS FAMILY WARNS KILLER<\/a><\/p>\n She\u2019d been living with her boyfriend, Robert Paddock, and his mother, Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers reported in a 2013 video aimed at drawing new attention to the cold case<\/a>. She\u2019d moved to the area just three months before her disappearance, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n When Gayhart\u2019s frequent letters and phone calls to her family “quickly stopped,” they “had a gut feeling something was wrong,” Crime Stoppers reported. They knew, according to the video, that she and her boyfriend didn’t have “the perfect relationship.”<\/p>\n After interviewing witnesses, including Paddock and his mother, detectives said Gayhart was last seen “walking down the street with a suitcase” after being “kicked out of the trailer” where the three lived. A neighbor told investigators that Gayhart “came to her house to use her phone to call her family,” according to Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n A paddleboarder heads down a canal in Cape Coral on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n KILLER ADMITS TO DECADES-OLD COLD CASE SLAYING AFTER INVESTIGATORS LEAN ON NEW FORENSIC EVIDENCE: OFFICIALS<\/a><\/p>\n “That’s when she told her neighbor that she was pregnant and she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend did not want her to keep the baby.”<\/p>\n FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X<\/a><\/p>\n A neighbor in the trailer park reported “a lot of arguing and a lot of crashing one night, as far as things being destroyed,” according to the video report.<\/p>\n Gayhart had just started working at Howie\u2019s Hot Dogs in Cape Coral.<\/p>\n TIPSTER CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER POLICE SAY ANONYMOUS CALL HELPED SOLVE 30-YEAR DISAPPEARANCE<\/a><\/p>\n “Her boyfriend at the time went to pick her up, and she wasn’t at work,” Sizemore said.<\/p>\n Rose Marie Gayhart’s body was found in Cape Coral, Florida. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE<\/a><\/p>\n Restaurant staff told authorities that she\u2019d left with a man in a red pickup truck.<\/p>\n SEND US A TIP<\/a><\/p>\n Two independent witnesses reported seeing Gayhart before her disappearance with “a white male in a red pickup truck,” Sizemore said.<\/p>\n GOT A TIP?<\/a><\/p>\n Identifying him is thought to be a critical piece of information that could help solve the case.<\/p>\n 39 Years Later<\/p>\n In May 2024, a kayaker paddling in a northeast Cape Coral canal discovered a human skull and alerted police.<\/p>\n With the help of a New York<\/a> law enforcement agency, Florida authorities obtained DNA from Gayhart\u2019s family. It took two years, but testing on the skull revealed proof Gayhart had been found.<\/p>\n A sign on State Rt. 63 welcomes drivers to Dansville, New York. July 29, 2019. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST<\/a><\/p>\n “For more than 40 years, Rose Marie Gayhart\u2019s family has carried the weight of not knowing what happened to her,” Sizemore said in a news release. “While this identification brings long-awaited answers, it also strengthens our resolve.<\/p>\n SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n “No matter how much time passes, even after four decades, our investigations do not stop, and our pursuit of justice does not end,” he said.<\/p>\n Cape Coral police chief Anthony Sizemore addresses the media during a conference on Wednesday afternoon, April 17, 2024. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL<\/a><\/p>\n The long-cold case<\/a> now is considered an active homicide investigation.<\/p>\n![\"Rose](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rose-Gayhart-from-Cape-Coral-Police-Department.jpg\")
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