Victim identified 43 years after Daytona Beach serial killer left her body on highway median
By Averi Kremposky
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PORT ORANGE, Florida (WESH) — In November 1980, a road crew working in the median of Interstate 95 discovered the remains of a 25-year-old woman — but officials never learned her name until 43 years later.
According to Volusia County officials, Pamela Wittman was just one victim of Daytona Beach-area serial killer Gerald Stano, who is believed to be responsible for dozens of murders across Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Discovered with no identification on her, Wittman’s murder became known as the “Jane Doe 1980” case. While Stano reportedly claimed responsibility for the woman’s death (and several other murders in the area), officials were never able to pin down Wittman’s identity — until now.
For 43 years, Pamela Wittman’s sister wondered what happened.
“She had been I have been tormented by the fact that her half-sister was missing and was never found, and she didn’t know,” said Bill Weaver, Volusia Sheriff’s Office detective. “Did not know that she was in Florida at the time. Knew she was here for a period of time, but didn’t know if she had was deceased here, if she’d gone to another state and something else happened.”
Last year, Volusia County officials say a nonprofit organization providing grants for genetic genealogy investigations of this nature, Genealogy for Justice, funded a closer look into the case.
With the help of FHD Forensics, Volusia officials say they were able to get a positive ID on Wittman, allowing detectives to connect her to Stano and narrow down when she was killed.
According to officials, Wittman’s younger sister traveled to Florida for an emotional meeting with detectives, where she was also given her sibling’s remains.
“Finally, this family can answer the question of what happened to their loved one,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “While this isn’t the news any family hopes to hear, I’m grateful for everyone who worked so hard to make sure we found the truth and gave Pamela a proper memorial.”
They can finally get some closure knowing what happened to Pam.
“She said that she felt that a weight had been lifted off her,” Weaver said. “She’s lived her whole life with that. It’s pretty deep.”
After receiving eight life sentences and three death sentences for murder convictions, Stano was executed in 1998 in a Florida state prison.
“There’s only one way to eradicate evil,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “You have to eradicate it… When you read how he killed these women and how he preyed on them, there was a book written about it. And his thing was that he looked for women who were walking because he determined those women were vulnerable.”
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