25-year-old victim of accused serial killer identified 44 years later, Florida cops say

A 25-year-old woman found dead off I-95 in 1980 has now been identified as a victim of an accused serial killer who confessed to dozens of slayings, Florida authorities said.

For 44 years, investigators struggled to determine who was the Jane Doe found by road crews on Nov. 5, 1980, in Port Orange, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.

Genetic genealogy analysis helped identify her as Pamela Kay Wittman of Indiana.

“Pam’s Indiana schoolmates recall her as a beautiful person with a big heart who loved to make people laugh,” according to Genealogy for Justice, which assisted in the cold case. “Several said that she had the voice of an angel and loved to sing.”

After genealogists from FHD Forensics came up with a possible match of Wittman, detectives found her family, who shared more information about her life in 1980 and gave DNA for testing, deputies said.

Once Wittman’s identity was confirmed, further investigation connected her death to accused serial killer Gerald Stano, who was executed in Florida in 1998 on nine murder convictions of women, Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.

Deputies believe Stano killed her in late February of 1980, about eight months before the discovery of her remains.

Stano told investigators he killed 41 people in total, CBS news reported in 1998. Deputies say these deaths spanned New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, including the Daytona Beach area.

Port Orange is part of the Daytona Beach metropolitan area on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

This story was originally published October 17, 2024 at 10:24 AM with the headline "25-year-old victim of accused serial killer identified 44 years later, Florida cops say."