When 23-year-old Rose Gayhart left Dansville, New York with her boyfriend for Cape Coral, Florida in December of 1984, she was looking for a fresh start.
But as Rose hugged her sister goodbye on that cold December day, neither of them could have imagined that it would be the last hug they’d ever share… or that within 3 short months, Rose would be gone.
Courtesy of The Center for HOPE
Episode Info
If you have any information about the disappearance of Rose Marie Gayhart, or the activities of Roland Davis in Florida in the mid-1980s, please contact the Cape Coral Police Department at (239) 574-3223.
To apply for a Cold Case Playing Card grant through Season of Justice, please visit www.seasonofjustice.org.
Letter to Dorothy Gayhart
Courtesy: Laurie Travis
A younger Rose Marie Gayhart. Courtesy: NamUs
Rose (right) and her sister, Laurie (left). Courtesy: Missing Rose Gayhart Facebook Page
Rose Gayhart. Courtesy: NamUs
A missing poster for Rose Marie Gayhart. Courtesy: LostNMissing.org
Sharon Gill. Courtesy: CCSOBlog.org
Roland Davis’ 1993 mugshot. Courtesy: SWFL Crime Stoppers Facebook page
Roland Davis’ 2004 mugshot. Courtesy: Florida Department of Corrections
A sketch of Rose, age-progressed to 50 years. Courtesy: Help Find Rose Marie Gayhart
Episode Source Material
- Democrat and Chronicle: Upcoming criminal trials.
- NIST: Forensic Bitemark Analysis Not Supported by Sufficient Data, NIST Draft Review Finds.
- Democrat and Chronicle (Geneso): Woman admits killing baby, by Bob Bickel.
- Democrat and Chronicle (Geneso): Women’s guilt plea made to ‘lessen her sentence,’ by Bob Bickel.
- News-Press (Fort Myers, FL): Questions abound in disappearance of Cape resident, by Frank Rinella.
- The Charley Project: Rose Marie Gayhart.
- The Dr. Laurie Roth Show.
- ABC News: Where is Suzanne Lyall? 25 years after college student vanished, her mom isn’t giving up, by Emily Shapiro.
- Democrat and Chronicle: Dorothy Rittenhouse obituary.
- WINK News: Ohio death row inmate linked to 30-year-old cold case in Charlotte County, by Daniella Garcia and Derrick Shaw.
- Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office (Punta Gorda, FL): Indicted Murderer of Sharon Gill Dies in Custody, Case Closed.
- WINK News: Ohio death row inmate may be linked to multiple SWFL cold case homicides, by Breana Ross.