Florida Killers ////// 945 | Forensic Files

The allnew tropical butterfly refresher is now at Starbucks. Dive into juicy guava and passure fruit [music] flavors
with mango pineapple popping pearls bursting in every sip. Ice cold, instantly refreshing, and impossible to
put down. [music] Made for summer only at Starbucks. >> For more. >> Claude, you can talk. I've always had
the gift of gab, Nancy. But now you can understand with Pretty Litter, the odor neutralizing, longlasting, [music]
healthindicating kitty litter. That's simply the most luxurious way to bury my poopies and my peees.
>> Pretty litter was developed with veterinarians. It helps me monitor potential health problems just by
[music] changing color. >> Go to prettylitter.com today. Pretty litter, not just a pretty litter.
Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, thanks
for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me as always is a man who prefers to work without a net. Here is the
captain. [music] >> And I prefer to do a podcast without my pants. It's good to be seen and good to
see you. Thanks for listening. [music] Thanks for telling a friend. This week we are delighted to be
featuring a great new beer from our friends at Tactical Brewing Company in beautiful Orlando, Florida. [music] This
is a Medusa inspired hazy IPA loaded with hops and smoothed out with tropical flavors that you would expect with a
hazy. This one has sweet, berry, and grape. This is Cursed Gaze Hazy India Pale Ale by the good folks at Tactical
Brewing Company. And longtime listeners of the garage know that we love what Tactical is brewing. And Tactical has
some of the very best can art in the business. ABV 6.5% garage grade four and a half bottle caps out of five. And
today, ladies and germs, we're going to do something a little different because we will be talking about several still
unsolved homicides from the sunshine state of Florida. So, we wanted to give a shout out to the Florida Themis
Project, a hope, advocacy, and justice nonprofit that assists families and law enforcement with open and unsolved
[music] cases. Florida them thro.org. org is the website. Go there, especially if you are a resident of Florida.
[music] Go to floridaispro.org and learn about what they do, how you can get involved, and if the mood should
strike you, throw a little support their way. They have a couple of cases that [music] they are currently working, and
I am interested right now in this John Doe case that they have. It's an unidentified male who on April 3rd of
1980 was struck and killed by a tractor trailer heading southbound on State Road
9 in Banell, Florida. This pedestrian was standing on the right outside lane of the road when he was struck and
killed and the victim had no identification that was found on his person. He was a white male estimated to
be 20 to 25 years old. 5' 8 in tall with brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a white button-up shirt, tan
pants, black socks, and brown shoes. He is on number 928. We want to help them out with this case
and with their other cases. So, True Crime Garage will get things started here. We have donated $200 to the
Florida Themis Project [music] efforts on this case and we were able to do so. Thank you to all of you who have donated
[music] to the beer fund. So for everyone who has helped us with this case and everyone who has helped us with the beer
fund, we say thank you. Yeah. BW are [music] you in? Beer run for everything true crime. Check out true crimegar.com.
While [music] you're there, sign up on the mailing list so you're in the know about merch promos. And Colonel, that's
enough of the bees. >> All right, everybody, gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk
some true crime. In April of 2026, the Florida Sheriff's Association was calling attention to unsolved serial
killer cases in the state of Florida. Some of the most haunting serial killer cases in Florida have never been solved.
Since the 1970s, investigators have documented clusters of murders across the state with
troubling similarities, the same victim profiles, the same methods, and the same
remote and canals. In several cases, detectives suspected a serial offender. In none of these cases was anyone ever
charged. Limited forensic technology, fragmented communications between agencies, and Florida's transient
population, all made these investigations extraordinarily difficult. Today, cold case units across
the state are revisiting much of the evidence with modern tools, DNA analysis, genetic genealogy, and digital
databases in hopes of finally finding answers and providing families with the closure they deserve. Today, we will be
discussing notable unsolved serial killer cases in the sunshine state, in the great state of Florida, with a heavy
focus on the flat tire murders. This is true crime garage. [music] The flat tire murders between February
1975 and January of 1976. A troubling pattern began to take shape across South Florida. One that
investigators would later struggle to fully define but could not ignore. The cases surfaced the way many serial
investigations do at first as separate tragedies scattered across jurisdictions and connected only by the quiet dread
that something about them felt familiar. The victims were young women and teenage
girls and their lives, at least as they appeared to law enforcement looking from
the outside, often carried an element of motion. Some were traveling, some were working temporary jobs, and some were
living transient lifestyles. Remember, in some cases, the transient lifestyle often means missing person reports could
be delayed. Leads could cool before they are even recognized, and connections between cases could remain buried, even
if just temporarily. Over time, bodies were discovered in places that seemed chosen for how little they invited
attention. Canals and remote areas across South Florida. The recoveries clustered primarily in Broward County
and Miami Dade County where waterways, embankments, and isolated stretches of land. Locations where a person could
leave evidence behind and count on distance, darkness, and time to do the rest of the work for them. Remember,
time is the killer of evidence. As these discoveries accumulated, investigators [clears throat] began to talk to one
another. compare notes and look for overlaps that might explain why so many victims were being found in similar
settings. The working idea was not that every case had to match perfectly. Few real investigations offer that kind of
certainty, but that a thread might be running through several of them. The more they looked, the more similarities
seemed to emerge. And with those similarities came a possibility that was impossible to dismiss. There might be
one offender or a set of offenders moving through the region and leaving the same kind of aftermath behind.
Eventually, one cluster became known as the flat tire murders. The label came from an investigative belief about how
in at least some of the attacks may have begun. Authorities suspected the offender used a simple but effective
tactic, deflating the tires of victim's cars. And in that moment of vulnerability, when someone is focused
on a problem they did not expect to have, the offender may have approached, contact initiated, followed by abduction
and assault. As said, it's difficult to link all of these cases together with a great degree of certainty.
>> When you hear from some of the investigators, they say five, and some of the investigators say there could be
up to 12 victims in these cases. >> Absolutely. The suspected victims ultimately included 12 women and girls,
all discovered in or near South Florida canals. And when we say 12, the captain has referenced a couple different
numbers here as we've seen that in our look and research at in this case, but oftent times when you find a list of
potential victims here, it includes 12 women and girls. >> Yeah. It seems like the age range is
late teen to early 20s. >> Mhm. And really what you see here in my opinion, Captain, is when you as that
list of victims expands, I almost feel like the certainty diminishes a little bit on how many of these are connected.
It's absolute. I will say this, I firmly believe that many of these are connected, but I think it's similar to
some cases that we've covered in the past. The Santa Rosa serial killer case that we've covered here comes to mind
where you may have multiple killers working in a certain area and persons that are capable of killing not just one
person but more than one. Well, I think a couple problems here for investigators
is when you have these young women or teenage girls, like I said, between the age of mid teens to early 20s, they're
probably all going to be similar in in height and weight. Here's one of the things I don't like cuz you'll hear
people say, "Well, they were they were all last seen shopping or driving." Well, if we feel like there was some
ruse that was done to their vehicle, I think you to me the driving doesn't matter. When was she last seen driving?
Okay, we know the the vehicle was part of the ruse. So, if they're all like where where were they seen before the
driving? Were they at home? Were they shopping? And then the other problem that I have with this investigation is
the discovery of the bodies. you have multiple locations. If we're finding all 12 of these victims in canals or a
bigger percentage like 80% of the victims are found in canals, but they're found it's it seems like in remote
locations and wood wooded areas and canals. So, this makes it difficult, I think, to determine whether it's one
individual that's just changing multiple things or is it multiple killers that are they're just doing what they do.
>> Yeah. The difficulty here is not only the lack of an identified offender, it's
the deeper challenge of linkage itself. These cases do share a lot of the similar traits. Location types, victim
profiles, time frame, but share traits are not the same as proof. Investigators could see the resemblance in the
outlines yet could not confirm with complete confidence that every victim on this list had been killed by the same
person or group. Right? when authorities looked at the span of time and it we're
talking about a relatively short span a short time span here from February 1975 through January 1976 they suspected that
as many as a dozen women could be connected whether by a single offender multiple offenders using similar methods
or a mix of crimes that over overlapped simply in place and time. The flat tire murders remained what the name now
signifies, one of Florida's most disturbing clusters of unsolved cases. A stretch of months when young women and
girls disappeared and were later found dead. So, let's examine a couple of the cases that have been thought to have
been linked to this sequence. Now, as said, the murder started in February of 75. Let's start at June 18th,
1975 in Broward County, Florida, when two teenage girls made a plan, an overnight visit with friends. Their
names were Barbara Suzanne Shrieber, known to people close to her as Barbie, and Belinda Darlene Zettenroer. Both
girls were 14 years old. Both were expected to enter 9th grade in the fall and both were last seen alive on June
18th, 1975 as they left a home in Hollywood, Florida. The case would later be described in an article from the
Pittsburgh Press titled Two Florida Girls Slain on Their Way to Friends. The reporting captured a community shock in
the blunt language of the early facts that were known about this case. Right. >> Sheriff's sheriff's deputies said in
this article that they were questioning everyone who knew the girls and they go on to say they knew a lot of people.
What details we do know is this. That night, Belinda's mother, Joyce, said Belinda asked for permission to spend
the night at Barbara's house. Joyce agreed. Mom says yes. Then according to the report, Belinda called the home that
night with an update. Instead of staying at Barbara's, the two girls, Belinda and
Barbara, had planned to spend the night at a at the home of a third friend. >> Right.
>> Now, in this report, and all reports here, Captain, the friend's name, the third friend was kept from the the name
was kept from the public, >> right? At Barbara's home, Mr. and Mrs. Shrieber saw the girls before they left.
So, this is the last confirmed moment here, according to what detectives later pieced together, was the two of them
walking away from the Shriber residence that night, believing they were heading to a friend's house. But detectives
quickly concluded that Barbara and Belinda never reached that destination. What happened between their departure
and the next morning remains the black space at the center of this case. An unresolved stretch of time where the
girl's route, who they may have encountered, and how they were diverted from their route has never been
definitively answered. The next break in the story came from chance. On the morning after, a family out on a fishing
trip in the Florida Everglades made a discovery that no one is prepared to make. along a canal near brush and open
wilderness. They found two bodies lying close together side by side. The location was described as parallel to US
Highway 27, roughly 20 m west of Fort Lauderdale in the Everglades corridor, where the road cuts through wide flat
stretches of water, grass, and canal banks. This is approximately 4 miles north of Andy Town, Florida.
Andytown, Florida, a place I've never heard of. I've been to the Everglades several times.
>> It's okay. >> Deputies responded and began searching the area, but the initial reports
emphasize how little physical evidence was recovered. I mean this anybody that's been to the Everglades or has any
general understanding of the Everglades does not need for me to tell you why one
would anticipate not finding much in the way of physical evidence here. It's the
Everglades. It's expansive. It's exposed. It's a place where wind, water, and who knows what else, right? Skunk
ape comes to mind and all kinds of weird animals that may exist and may not exist.
>> That's the problem with Florida is the skunk ape. But a couple things here. First of all, this is a family outing
that nobody's ever going to forget. But am I following you correctly? They they have they're not fully truthful so they
can spend the night at another friend's house. >> No, they So, we've all been there,
right? You go to your friend's house. You You told mom and dad, "Hey, I'm going to go stay at my friend's house."
She calls mom and says, "Hey, me and my friend, the house that she was going to stay at.
>> We're both going to go to this third friend's house now. Is it okay if we we go there and stay the night there?" So,
the parents knew where the two girls were going. >> Okay. >> They just never made it there.
>> And and then my other question is, how does this get on the radar as far as these flat tire murders because they
traveled by foot? >> Well, yes. So, the big part of the flat tire murders is they received their name
because this ruse was used more than once, but it wasn't used in all of the homicides. What what really truly
happens here is any abduction and murder that fits this similar victimology in this short time frame of only 11 months
has all been encapsulated into potentially being flat tire murders. >> Right. Okay.
>> So the the large connector here is not so much the flat tires. It's more >> the age of the victims and the location
>> more of where they're found. So, what we have here, I mean, look, they're not all
found, but if you look at this, I could I if I went through all 12 of these, I would be surprised if not all 12 of them
match this. They they were all found in canals or as in this case, right next to
the canals, >> right? I've been revisiting the vanishing women of Chilikothy because
it's the location of the bodies and you go well if the location of the bodies and there's not many signatures those
signatures can change and the and [clears throat] the motivation or the the way the the person the killer
operates can change but like to me I I'd make an argument here where you go well
if they're in the vicinity of the canal Then they're found in the canal, right? >> If we're trying to lump these together
or not. >> And it appears that >> I mean, is that dumb to think? I I just I just think like it's like, oh, all the
all the murder victims were found in the river. Well, if you found one on the banks of the river, it's still the
river. Right. >> Right. And that's what they're saying here. And with with this case, it
appears that the victims that were not found in a canal or next to one. I mean, these poor girls were right on the bank
of this canal and that's how they were spotted by this family who was out, I'm guessing, on an airboat because it's the
Everglades on a fishing trip. And the the situation seems to be this. If they're not found in a canal or right
next to one, then there the vehicle involved, the victim's vehicle that's involved in the case shares similarities
to the cases where we have a vehicle involved and the victim is later found in the canal.
>> Mhm. >> Deputies [clears throat] responded to the call, of course, began searching the area, and as we said, this
is going to be difficult. It's already going to be difficult anyway because it's an outdoor crime scene, but then
you have the added element of mother nature. She is fierce and wild in the Everglades.
>> Yeah, she can be a real [ __ ] of Rona Doney. >> Investigators believe that the girls had
been brought to the site, forced to lie down, and then shot. The report stated that both were murdered on the spot in
which they were found, and they were found fully clothed. So in these cases, we don't suspect sexual assault.
>> Well, this is where science be damned because >> yeah, >> there's there's a real human element here that throws a
variable in there that I don't think science can fully explain away all the time. So, the Broward County, you're
right here, Captain. The Broward County Medical Examiner reported that neither girl had been sexually molested. Here's
what I would argue. Why the hell else were they attacked and abducted and killed? Um,
>> and why were they taken to a remote location, >> right? It's they're 14 years old. They
don't have they don't have a whole bunch of enemies. And >> yeah, I think as an investigator, you
have to think, okay, did the killer bring them out here for other reasons? Get scared? Did he bring them out to
this location and sees signs of individuals or hears boats or whatever? it. There could be many reasons why
their plan wasn't fully actualized. >> Mhm. They could have been redressed. They could have been forced to redress
themselves. They could have just because they're clothed or or even if they're found nude doesn't mean that they were
sexually assaulted, but >> that could be the motivation. They they could have been forced to do things,
participate in things regardless that are of a sexual nature that does not end in the medical examiner being able to
100% conclusively decide that they were in fact raped or sexually assaulted. And
the other part of this, not to and I don't think that this is is a part of this here in this specific case, but for
anybody shaking their head at me now, go back and examine the David Burkowitz Son
of Sam case where he didn't even get within touching distance of anybody in those cases very much all were very
sexual nature. >> Yeah. Well, the sexual component is also the reason why they're choosing their
victims. Maybe I'm stating the obvious thing. They were yes, but sometimes obvious needs to be stated and they what
we can conclude by what little information was put out there is that they were abducted and killed and it was
either for sexual assault purposes or reasons unknown. So this case, unfortunately, two girls last seen
leaving a home in, in this case, Hollywood, Florida in June of 75, heading to a friend's house, never
arriving, and then found the next morning along Everglades Canal near US 27, shot to death, lying side by side.
And this was an outcome so abrupt, so violent that it transformed an ordinary summer night into an unsolved homicide.
This still raises the same unanswered questions about who intercepted them, why, and how they were taken to that
remote stretch of Canal Bank. And for decades, those questions [music] would remain.
[music] Keeps it fresh all summer long. Without regular practice, kids can lose momentum
over summer break. Il helps students stay sharp and confident so they're ready for the next school year. L is an
award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning. Whether they're
building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing
science concepts, is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US. And studies show
kids who use score higher on tests, proven in all 50 states. I have friends and family that use and love.
Why? because it matters and they see a big difference. With ExoL, you get instant feedback with clear
explanations. Everything's organized by grade level and skill level. Plus, it's easy to track your child's progress, and
they have flexible summer schedules. They work around your kids summer schedule. And in fact, summer might be
one of the best times of year to use. Make an impact on your child's learning. Getl now and True Crime Garage listeners
can get an exclusive 20% offl membership when they sign up today at excl.com/g. Visit excl.com/g
to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. So many people are focused on where
their money is today. Acorns is the financial wellness app that cares about where your money is going tomorrow. And
[clears throat] with the Acorn's potential screen, you can find out what your money is capable of. Acorns is
easy. You can sign up in minutes and start automatically investing your spare money, even if all you've got is spare
change. Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a $5 bonus investment. Join the over 14 million
all-time customers who have already saved and invested over $27 billion with Acorns. Head to acorns.com/g
or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non-client endorsement compensation provides incentive to
positively promote Acorns. Tier 2 compensation provided potential subject to various factors such as customers
accounts age and investment settings does not include Acorn's fees results do not predict or represent the performance
of any Acorn's portfolio. Investment results will vary. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC
registered investment advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com/g. Chime is banking built for you, not the
1%. They have thousands of feefree ATMs because why pay to get your own money? Plus, with a Chime card, get travel
perks like airport lounge access and 5% cash back on things like gas or groceries. Upgrade to America's number
one choice for banking with a Chime checking account. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding
way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking feefree today. Head to chime.com/g.
That is chime.com/g. It only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking
services for Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges.
Stated cash back for Chime Prime only. No minimum balance required. Checking account ranking based on a JD Power
survey published October 20th, 2025. For more information on travel perks, go to
chime.com/disclosures. When it comes to your wireless bill, transparency is everything. That's why
MintMo's wireless plans have no gimmicks and no gotchas, just high-speed data and
reliable coverage on the T-Mobile 5G network. And right now, all plans are $15 per month, even unlimited. I love
Mint Mobile. I've said it before. I will say it again. I get the same great service that I used to get. And in some
cases, it's even better for less money with Mint Mobile. Same great service that I got with the big boys. What I'm
not getting now is a big bill, a big payment. I'm saving money and I've doubled the gigs on my hotspot. To get
your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/tcg. That's mintmobile.com/tcg.
Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/tcg. That's it. There's no catch. Upfront
payment of $45 for 3 months, $90 for 6 months, or $180 for 12 months. Plan required $15 per
month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy.
Includes up to 20 GB hotspot. Capable device required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com.
[music] [music] All right, we are back. Cheers, mates. Tall cans in the air. are part of
the people and power to the people. Cheers to you, Colonel. >> Tall cans in the air. We do have today
with this great beer from Tactical. And anybody familiar with Tactical knows that I think all their cans are tall
cans. They're all 16 oz. Yeah, I love to share their beer can artwork on our Instagram stories. Side note though, you
know, I was looking into this case and somebody asked me how my day at work was going and I thought it's uh it's gone. I
I I think sometimes I don't stop to realize how dark these cases can become and how how much of a dark cloud it can
put on you um day after day. The thing here with this case, and what's fascinating about this case in the the
Sunshine State in this general time period that we're talking about is there's a lot of these serial type cases
or suspected serial type cases. And I believe that they're spot on with a lot of these. I do think that these were
serial offenders, but if you go to the opposite side of the country in that same decade, California is pretty much
experiencing the exact same circumstances. >> Yeah. >> Next, let's move on to two cases that
still sit in the category no investigator wants to see, unsolved homicides. These are two more of the
potential flat tire murders. So we go to July 22nd, 1975. Remember, we were just in the month of
June, so roughly a month later. Ronnie Sue Goran, she's 27 years old. She was supposed to go to Parkway Hospital to
visit her mother who was ill. She was expected to arrive about 2 2:30 in the afternoon. She never did.
>> Yeah. Ronnie lived at 137 Golden Isle Drive in Hollandale. She was a respiratory therapist. Earlier that day,
she was last seen at the Children's Aszthmatic Foundation in North Miami Beach. This is a place where she had
once worked and where she still had a lot of friends. When Ronnie left the foundation, she told people she intended
to stop at the 163rd Street Shopping Center and this just sounded like a quick errand before
heading to the hospital. The next day, Ronnie was found dead. Her nude body was discovered in the Graham Canal near
Northwest 138th Street and 105th Avenue in North Dade. The immediate appearance suggested drowning, but the medical
examiner turned the case from tragedy into something far darker. The coroner reported that Ronnie had been sexually
mutilated. She had been stabbed several times. >> Jesus. Then investigators found her car,
Ronnie's burgundy and white Oldsmobile Cutless located in a shopping center parking lot. The car had a slashed tire.
It wasn't just abandonment. This looks staged like someone had created a problem that would force the driver to
become vulnerable for a few minutes to assess the flat tire. And in that vulnerability, a predator could appear.
>> Yeah. And on a side note, I mean, this seems like, oh, this is in the ' 70s. This is so long ago. I just saw a news
report the other day where these individuals are hiding behind cars and they either, you know, put something on
your your window or or they'll take your windshield wiper blades and they'll pull
them up so you have to get out of your car to put them down or they take a a shopping cart and put it behind your
vehicle. They're doing whatever ruse that they have to do to get you out of the vehicle. So then they could take you
over and then take you over take over the vehicle as well. So it seems like, oh well, this is the 70s. These are
[laughter] these are yesterday year's problems. Nope. Problems happening today. Just
different rues. 8 days after Ronnie disappeared, another young woman vanished in a way that echoed the first
case so closely that law enforcement and reporters immediately began drawing lines between them. Elise Rap, age 21,
left her Hollywood apartment at around 8:00 p.m. to go shopping. Ely lived at 801 Northeast 7th Avenue in Hollandale.
So these two victims, this is not only close in time, 8 days apart, but close in proximity. They both lived in the
same area, same town. >> She was working, at least she was working a summer job with Kelly Girl
Service in Broward County. Now >> fix that. She I have no clue. She was a transplant. So she intended to return to
her home in Flushing, New York in September of that same year. The trip that she set out on that night though
was should have been an ordinary trip shopping at the mall. Detectives surmised when she returned to her car,
she found the same kind of obstacle in Ronnie's case. >> Flat tire. >> Right. So, this already put this already
put on investigators radar a tire problem. Okay. Her car, this is a a yellow Chevrolet Vega, was found with a
deflated tire. So, when Elise came back to the vehicle, she found a killer waiting at the car or was quickly
approached by someone as if the flat wasn't a coincidence at all, but bait. When Elise didn't come home, her land
lady noticed. By the next day, concern escalated into action. The landl called police and she also contacted Alisa's
parents who were in state of New York. The missing person's clock began ticking fast and urgent. Later that same day, a
road worker saw something in the water. Alisa's body was found in the same canal
where Ronnie Gorland had been discovered. So, same flat tire, basically the same area, same
victimology, found in the same location. >> Yes. And note here, 8 days later, the
killer either dumb or confident or somewhere in between. >> Yeah. >> Was fine enough to return and place
another body in the exact same spot. >> What was the manner of death again? >> Well, we're going to get into that. Like
Ronnie, Elise was pronounced dead by drowning, but the autopsy pointed to a sequence of violence. Ely had been
struck in the head, a blow described as strong enough to knock her unconscious, the kind of incapacitation that prevents
resistance and makes everything that follows easier for an attacker. She had been sexually abused. Two women, eight
days apart, shopping center parking lots, tires rendered useless, bodies dumped in the same canal system. Yeah, I
would agree with you, Colonel. The thing I wonder is, so we have the ruse of you
have a flat tire, you got to get out and check, and that gives you your opportunity, but I'm wondering, how is
he controlling these victims to get them into a vehicle? Is it by is it just abduction or is it knife or possibly use
of gun? Well, they were we mentioned clock ticking already, but one thing that was impressive here now, now of
course it's a blessing and a curse, but they authorities have had decades to try
to put together a profile on the likely offender or offenders. Now, we do have a
good profile today. I don't know when that came about, but I did see newspaper articles where they were very quickly
trying to put together pieces or aspects of that profile. So, this may have come
out uh quickly after this sequence of murders. I can't say when it did come out, but as details surfaced about the
crimes, the press and officials began using language designed to convey not just murder, but a specific kind of
killer. One whose violence escalates. Pay attention to this part, everyone. One whose violence escalates and whose
acts carry a signature. A Miami News article ran under the headline, "Jack Ripper hunted in two canal murders." A
Dade County medical examiner, Dr. Ronald, Dr. Ronald Wright was quoted describing the savagery as consistent
with a Jack the Ripper type of psychopathic killer. The comparison was inflammatory and deliberate. A Metro
Police spokesman, his name Ralph Page, agreed with Wright that the two cases, victims Gorland and Rap, showed a
progression of violence, a pattern suggesting the next victim could be attacked even more brutally than the
last. Authorities said both women had been raped. Dr. Wright stated that both victims were apparently beaten
unconscious before the sexual assault and then dumped into the canal near the intersection of US Highway 27 in the
Palmetto Expressway in North Dade. The bodies, according to the reporting, were found nude with small exceptions. A
necklace on one victim and a pair of sandals on the other. Dr. Wright also noted something investigators rarely get
in water disposal. cases timing that favors evidence preservation. Police were quote fortunate, he said, that the
bodies were found relatively soon because in badly decomposed remains, the degree of mutilation can be difficult or
impossible to determine. Early discovery meant clearer injuries, clearer sequences, and a better chance of
reconstructing what happened. But clear injuries does not mean a clear suspect, >> right?
>> And that's going to be the trouble with these cases. >> Well, like we know, water damage is
evidence, but it it's fascinating to go there's a there's a brazeness to all this. You know, same location,
same ruse, but the violent escalates. Same location where the bodies are found. I mean, like you said, it's a
ticking time bomb. When is this individual going to strike again? >> In the same discussion, in that same
discussion here, Captain Dr. Reich said he had examined five bodies of young women killed in the previous months in
Dade County and believed there were enough similarities that quote the coincidences could not be discounted. He
did say in those other cases or some of those other cases, the bodies were reportedly too decomposed for a full
autopsy, limiting how confidently they could be tied together. >> Is that just because they weren't found
in time because of the location? >> Absolutely. Importantly, spokesman Ralph Page drew a boundary. He said law
enforcement had established a firm connection only between the Gorland and Rap cases. The rest were possibilities
as they as far as they were concerned based off of suspicions and similar patterns.
>> Yeah, this is some kind of monster. >> We had talked about a profile and I think that's what their suspicions are
here that this is a a man who is a monster but only to be identified under the surface. So the profile here is of a
man who could approach without raising alarm. Now as the public panic grew, police brought in psychiatrists to help
develop a psychological profile of the killer. The description that emerged was almost unsettlingly
ordinary. On the surface, the suspected perpetrator was described as a white male, 20 to 25, well-dressed, physically
athletic and attractive, possibly married, likely very intelligent, with an above average IQ, and all reality was
a sexual satist. The profile emphasized not just violence, but approach. The killer, it was believed, used charm to
win trust and lure potential victims toward his vehicle. The crucial idea was that he wouldn't look threatening in the
environment where he hunted. This is what I thought was fascinating about that is because it's in the 70s and this
is actually the beginning stages really of in-depth profiling. A lot of times you'd see
people think, well, this killer has to be a loner. And so, I thought it was interesting that they're pointing out,
okay, he's a he's probably attractive and he's probably actually married. I I thought that was a fascinating aspect of
the profile. >> Yeah. And you know, we took some uh lashing on this with some cases where
we've pointed out that authorities think that the offender might be attractive or
at least clean looking. >> Yeah. >> And I guess the push back on that is like, oh, so I let my guard down just
because the guy was look was not bad looking. Um, unfortunately, yes, that that's not just our opinion here in the
garage. That's the opinion of the persons investigating these cases. And you can point to a very specific case
like Ted Bundy. He unfortunately those women got in his car. There was nothing in that moment when he when he first
approached them. You know, the some of them of course he attacked and forced into his vehicle, but some of his
victims unfortunately got into his vehicle willingly. And we know that 100,000% because some of them got away
and thank God they lived to tell about it. Every one of them said the same thing was when I when I needed a ride or
was approached for a ride. I got in the vehicle because he looked like he looked
like somebody who was just out of college. He was he was a clean, polite looking individual and I trusted the
scenario. I trusted that moment and I got into his vehicle. And he would go, "Well, just cuz the guy was ugly or
disturbing looking, you wouldn't get in." No, you wouldn't get in his car. You would simply wait for somebody else
to come and help you. >> Well, and again, it might not even be attractiveness as much as it is guys
wearing a blazer or guys wearing a collared shirt or I think one of the things that helped Bundy so well was the
type of vehicle. A VW bug is not that threatening. Well, and I also say clean. I think clean is a big part of it, too.
It doesn't have to be an overly attractive individual. Clean, I think, is part of it.
>> Yeah, like Steve Martin would say, Mr. Clean Pants. But, yeah, I think all those things matter, but I also think
the age matters because you see the same type of individual, but they're in their
60s. What What does that What kind of reaction do you have? But also, we have to remember what time period it was. It
was it was a time period where you probably knew individuals that hitchhiked multiple times. So,
>> well, and that would be believed to be the outcome in one of these cases. Now,
uh circling back here though, I I will say I will get into the vehicle of a cute old man before I will get into the
vehicle of a strapping young lad. >> Well, that's because they have softer hands.
>> Less likely to take me down. I'll tell you that the profile emphasized not just
violence but approach. The killer, it was believed, used charm to win trust and lure potential victims toward his
car. This the crucial idea here was that he wouldn't look threatening in the environment where he hunted. He would
look like someone who belonged, someone who you would not be afraid of in a shopping center parking lot. And so this
detail and these details here align with that tire tactic. A slashed or flattened
tire creates a moment of confusion and inconvenience. And it creates an opening for a stranger to offer help. If the
offender looked safe, sounded polite, and calm, the first contact could happen in plain view. In plain view of everyone
out in the parking lot. In fact, Dr. right suggested that the way that the killer operated increased the chances
that someone witnessed the initial approach. So they don't they wouldn't recognize this as an abduction because
it wasn't an abduction the way that we see it play out in our minds. It was simply somebody talking to somebody else
in a parking lot. But I also wonder if where they parked mattered to the killer because also like let's say they're
coming out of the shopping center. It I don't think we have any actual like reports about this. Maybe you do, but
I'm assuming that they have a flat tire or a slash tire, but they're in a parking spot. And so if this individual
pulls up right beside them in a parking spot, that wouldn't look odd at all. and
you might not have any evidence that there's anything wrong with their car, if that makes any sense. And then I just
wondered if I just wonder if it mattered to the killer or not where these individuals were parking if they parked
really close to the store. Did he not try this ruse or or was he waiting for a victim to to pull in and and to park a
little further away? >> Yeah, it's it's interesting. I mean, we're in both cases here, we're talking
about shopping malls. That implies a large parking lot. So, that could be part of it. But we're also uh talking
about times of day that I don't think that they would be extremely busy. The there's a couple things here when you
look at this from the the hunters side of things. >> Yeah. >> I mean, this is so simple. You you you
are either you see a car with a woman in it that you desire and you follow them to the shopping mall parking lot or
you're already positioned somewhere in that parking lot where you can wait to see a victim type that you desire and
you have the entirety of the time that she is away from that vehicle to do something to the vehicle in which she is
going to require some form of assistance. Now, whether she takes that assistance from you or not is TBD, but
in the killer's mind, it may be as simple as, well, as long as she doesn't scream when she gets into my vehicle
willingly, no problems. Nobody's going to report anything. >> Yeah. >> But if she puts up if she gets if she
gets offended or for whatever reason gets standoffish, I just well, I offered her help and I just was a good
Samaritan. I get in my vehicle and say, "Good luck and wish you the best of luck." and I drive on on my way. Now,
the worry there would be when you compare it to like a Ted Bundy case, what do we know about Ted Bundy's case?
Well, we know that he approached several young women at the beach on the day of the double event
>> and later he was he was there was a composite sketch that was floating about because there were several young women
that said, "I was approached by a man." Nobody knew if it could be connected or not, but it seemed likely that it was.
So, it's really difficult to say how much they put into the thought of this other than, well, if she doesn't scream
and she gets into my vehicle willingly and I don't have to force her in, then no harm, no foul. Well, I also think
there's such a level of sophistication here because if if he is married, if that profile is correct, then he has a
window of time before his his wife or family is going, "Hey, where are you at? What are you doing?" But if hey, I'm
running an errand. I got to go to this shop and it's it's not hard to come up with some little white lies to put
yourself into that location. Like you said, he doesn't necessarily have to follow the victim from their house.
That's almost weird and doesn't make any sense because you don't know where they
are heading. And so I think really the hunting ground is these parking lots and it wouldn't you can sit in a parking lot
for a long period of time because people are coming and going and they're just not going to notice a guy sitting in his
car cuz they don't know if you just got back in your car or maybe he's running errands as he's doing this. It's it it's
a very simple ruse, but it would limit his time period. >> Yeah, he's the one thing we do know is
he's hunting. >> Yeah. The Dr. Wright suggested that the way the killer operated increases the
chances that someone witnessed the initial reproach as the initial approach as we said and as we know the problem
here as with many stranger on stranger crimes is that the relationship between victim and offender may only be nothing
but the crime itself. No shared circle, no known connection, no trail that begins before the moment of the attack.
After the years, over the years, I should say, the material notes a perceived pattern within a 11-month
period in which victims were similar and were disposed of in water or near it, particularly in canals. In the two
confirmed link cases, the offender used the same general dumping ground. A reward was announced, $1,000 for
information leading to the killer's capture. And as the story circulated, something else happened. The public
began to learn the pattern. People became weary of flat tires in shopping centers precisely because the two best
known cases began with that detail. Dr. Wright suggested that such public awareness might frighten the killer off,
quote, for a while. Now, let's fast forward to August of 2023. The Broward County Sheriff's Office
provided the kind of update people waited decades to hear. Investigators said they had finally identified a
suspect in the murders of two of the younger air quotes flat tire victims, Barbara Shriber and Darlene Zettenroer,
by using DNA recovered from the girl's clothing. After years of uncertainty and speculation, the name they released was
not a stranger to law enforcement. Robert Clark Keebler was a known felon. >> Also made cookies in in a
[clears throat] tree. >> There was an immediate complication though. Keebler could not be arrested,
questioned, or put on trial. He had died in 2019. And they didn't stop there. >> I think they should dig up their bones,
arrest them, interrogate him, put him on trial. >> Well, they didn't stop there because
along with Keebler's name, investigators shared a second conclusion. They stated
in this press conference they believed he had an accomplice, someone who at that point remained unidentified. As
detectives laid out what they knew, they also laid out what Keebler had been during his lifetime. They described a
lengthy criminal history, one that included armed robbery, sexual assault, and aggravated assault. His crimes, they
said, stretched from California to South Florida. Then the timeline moved forward
yet again with another press event that turned a story of maybe into this is what we believed happened.
>> Mhm. >> In May of 2025, the Broward County Sheriff's Office returned with a second
announcement. Detectives said they believed they had solved the horrific cold case crime nearly 50 years after
the two teenage girls were brutally murdered in Broward County. Again, with the help of DNA technology. So, we're
talking about the same two victims here, Captain, the 14-year-old girls, Barbara
Shrieber and Darlene Zetener. Detectives described what they believed was the beginning of the final day the girls
were seen alive. The sheriff's office said the two teenagers had been sitting on a bench in Hollywood, Florida, when a
white van pulled up with two men inside. The girls were on spring break and investigators said they had been
frequent hitchhikers. And of course, that detail matters because it suggests the crucial moment may not have looked
alarming to any onlookers. Authorities said the girls may have willingly gotten into the van.
>> Inside that van would be Keebler and Stein, right? And so it's possible that they sexually assaulted them in the van
and then disposed of the bodies or took them out to the the murder scene and then disposed of them.
>> Discovered by a family on a fishing outing near Interstate 75 on in the Florida Everglades.
The May 2025 update did more than retell the last known movements of the victims.
It also filled in the identity of the accomplice. Stole my thunder there. Here, Captain. Uh, his name is Lawrence
Stein. >> Keeper and Stein. That sounds like um either a detective group or a lawyer
that you'd a law group that you'd want to hire, but these guys were >> Take tell you what, if you take a look
at Keebler, >> take a look at Keebler. be surprised if he held down a job at any point in his
adult life. According to >> Yeah, but it goes back to my theory that these these creeps find each other.
>> Well, according to the sheriff's office, Stein was involved in the murders along
with Keebler. Like Keebler, Stein was no longer alive. He had died in 2005. And like Keebler, detectives said he carried
a lengthy criminal history. The sheriff's office stated that the pair were suspected or charged in other
sexual assaults spanning multiple states, Florida, California, and Arizona, with activity dating back to
1972. So today, maybe these creeps find each other in a multitude of ways. One could
point easily to the internet and say that that's >> where they may find one another. But
keep in mind, this has been going on for as long as crime has been going on. There's a place where criminals can
congregate together. That's jail and prisons. Um, so it's not hard to find one another when you have to live next
to >> Yeah. another felon. >> This is my He was my roommate. What kind of roommate was that? Um, Cellblock.
Yeah. But this one's difficult, too, because so they have this evidence, this definitive evidence, but they don't have
definitive evidence against Keebler or Stein to convict them of the other canal murders,
>> right? So, that's going to be a a big part of this. So, detectives stated that
DNA testing identified Keebler and Stein again from samples taken from the girl's
clothing. And this is interesting. Alongside the DNA, detectives said they were able to strengthen the narrative
with a memory that had been missing from the file for decades. They they were able to locate a witness who had never
been interviewed. Someone who said they saw the two girls get into a van on that
day. >> Ban the van. >> Detectives said that when Keebler came to South Florida from California, they
could prove through paperwork he was driving a white van. the same kind of van described in their account of the
abduction or the girls getting in willingly. They added that it also was the vehicle Keebler was driving when he
was arrested in a road rage incident 7 days after the teens were murdered. Okay, so this is interesting. This is
this is where you can start to take these two paragraphs and what we have to do as armchair detectives is we can use
what little information we have that is definitive fact and fill in some of the blanks. Right? So what does this tell
us? Detectives are going, "Look, we we can prove to you with the DNA that these guys were involved. We can prove to you
that when Keebler and Stein came from California, we know Keebler was driving a white van. Well, we now have a witness
who says, "I think I saw two girls that look like those girls get into a white van and this would have been on that
day." And there's the detectives are saying, "Look, we can prove that Keebler had the white van prior to the girl's
murders. And we can prove that he was driving that [snorts] 7 days later, that same vehicle 7 days after the teens were
murdered." And as you were talking about here, of course, many people had long questioned whether the murders of these
two victims were tied to the so-called flat tire murders. In fact, for many, many years, their names were included on
this list, but the Broward County Sheriff's Office drew a firm line. Detectives said they do not believe
Keebler and Stein were responsible for the other killings. They explained their reasoning and terms investigators often
return to when comparing cases, behavior, and pattern. The sheriff's office said the pair had an entirely
different MO, one that did not fit the remaining cases. Okay. So, what do they mean by that? We have evidence that the
two girls got willingly into their van. So, in these other sexual assault cases that we know that they were either
suspected in or guilty of, remember we said they had been charged uh with other crimes, some somewhat similar in nature
in other states. We have a couple things here. Not only is the MO different, we don't know when they arrive, but we know
that they're not from Florida. So, it's reasonable to believe maybe they arrived
in Florida and police can place them as arriving in Florida after this sequence started, right? Which was February of
75. >> Yeah. >> These girls were abducted and killed in June. And so, if they didn't arrive
until March, April, May, or even June itself, then they couldn't have killed the previous victims. The other thing
that is stated here, but we don't get a full description of how it went down and
the consequence of what went down. Keebler is arrested in a road rage incident 7 days after the teens were
murdered. So, it's plausible that he was pulled off the streets. And remember, this sequence of murders took place in a
very short time span of just 11 months. He could have been locked up for weeks or months after this road rage incident.
The vehicle could have been tied up and impounded somewhere for multiple months.
We don't have those details. What we do have is the information coming from law enforcement saying, "Look, these two
guys killed these two girls. They didn't do the other cases." So while they believed that the murders of Shriber and
Zentroer had been solved, they believed these crimes were unrelated to the other
open and unsolved cases that were often grouped under the flat tire murders label. We started this episode here,
Captain, talking about the Florida Sheriff's Association and their call to action with the public and bringing up
these unresolved, unsolved serial cases, a lot of them from the 70s in the great
state of Florida. If you go to fleriffer.org, or you can find in their blog cold case
files unsolved serial killer cases in Florida and they have listed several notable unsolved serial killer cases.
one, the flat tire murders, the gold sock killer, the redhead murders, the Daytona Beach area killings, the I95
corridor murders, and also listed here is what they are calling the Fort Meyers hitchhiker killings. And that is a very
different case from the one that we discuss here today, but a case that is not entirely unfamiliar to our beautiful
listeners because this is a case that we have covered. So the Florida, sorry, the
Fort Meyers hitchhiker killings. This is is a case that goes by several names. I'll give you a quick profile of this
case. Many of the victims were transient men, drifters, or hitchhikers who were traveling through Florida in search of
work or temporary housing because many of them had limited family connections in the area or were passing through.
Their disappearances were sometimes not immediately reported or investigated. I've we've reviewed this case at length
and I'll tell you this statement that they have here, their disappearance were disappearances were sometimes not
immediately reported or investigated. We can tell you in several of these cases,
their disappearances were not reported at all, >> which makes things difficult when you
don't report cases. >> Well, and they weren't many of these victims weren't from the area, so nobody
knew that they were missing. Investigators believed the victims were often approached along roadways or
offered rides by someone posing as a helpful driver. Some victims were later found in wooded areas or remote
locations, suggesting the offender transported them away from the public view before killing them. Now, this is
where it's going to start sounding familiar for our listeners. Authorities have long suspected that the killings
may be connected to a serial offender operating in Southwest Florida during the 1990s. Investigators have examined
potential links between the victims and offenders known to target transient populations. One individual frequently
discussed in connection with these crimes is Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., a convicted murderer associated with a
series of killings known as the Hog Trail murders in nearby counties. While he was convicted of one murder and
suspected in several others, he has never been formally charged in the Fort Meyers cases. So, as said here, the Fort
Meyers cases, the hitchhiker murders, as the sheriff's association is calling it,
is also referred to oftent times as the Fort Meyers 8. It's one of Florida's darkest, most baffling unsolved
mysteries. It was heav he heavily covered here in the garage by yours truly and the captain by True Crime
Garage in our podcast episodes 601 and 602 titled the hog trail murders. Again, this is a call to action by the Florida
Sheriff's Association. We recommend that you go to fleriffer.org or and they have a list of all of these
cases as well as the victims that they believe are tied to these different serial murders. And there is there are
many ways that you can offer some assistance to law enforcement and everything is there for you on
fleriffs.org. You can submit a tip via phone, via text, via website, and you can also download the
Florida Crimestoppers mobile app to offer assistance to the sheriff's association.
[music] >> [music] [music] >> Want to thank everybody for joining us here in the garage. Make sure you
subscribe [music] to the podcast. Make sure you tell a friend. More the marrier, right? Come have a seat in the
garage. >> Mhm. >> Want to thank you for joining us. Colon, we have a recommended reading this week.
>> Don't just sit there in the garage and be a spectator. We now have a mechanical
bull in here. You can you can get involved and hop on the bull and get your ass thrown off of the bull. That's
right. The uh recommendation for this week here, everybody, of course, the Florida Theis Project. They're doing I
mean, they're doing great stuff. They're a little bit younger and they're really
it's the same as the porch light project just the Florida version of this. So I want everybody if you have a little
extra time this week go to Florida theis. That's t h e m i s project.org. That's their website. Again, especially
if you're a resident of Florida, you can get involved and help in these cases. We
get emails all the time of I want to do more than just listen to true crime. I want to help. This is one way that you
can help. We wanted to kick things off on this John Doe case for our listeners by taking some of that beer fund money
and throwing it to the efforts that they are doing with this John Doe case. So, go to florida themispro.org
and see what it is that you can do. Yeah. And they're great people. Follow them also on social media if you want to
see what they're up to. Until next week, be good, be kind, and don't litter. Heat. Heat.
[music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> This podcast is supported by Nerkch ODT from Edipant. We know you didn't ask for
an interruption, but migraine doesn't wait for the right moment to interrupt either. [music] It just barges in, takes
your time, and throws everything off. So when migraine takes your time, take nerk. [music] It's for the acute
treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Nert can provide pain relief in 2 hours which can last up to 2
days. Ask your healthcare provider if nerk is right for you because your time is for you, not migraine. Don't take if
allergic to Nertk ODT. Allergic [music] reactions can occur even days after use.
Get help right away for trouble breathing, rash, swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or throat. High blood
pressure and reayon syndrome can occur. Get help for high blood pressure, numbness, coolness, pain, or color
changes in fingers and toes. Common side effect is nausea. [music] For full prescribing information, call 18334
Nerac or visit nerac.com. All right, back [music] to your podcast playlist or whatever's keeping you going
today. >> There's a pill [music] of Hello, I'm OMIC, and I'm other GLP1s kind of like him. Hey, did I hear
there's a pill version of OMIC? Yep, you sure did. Ask your doctor about which FDA approved uses of the Ompic pen or
pill may be right for you. Call 1833 Ompic or visit ozmpic.com to view the medication guide and learn more about
OMIC simaglletide tablets 9 millig and OMIC simaglletide injection 2 millig. There's a pill version [music] of OM

Florida Killers ////// 945

Part 1 of 1

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/)

Some of the most haunting serial killer cases in Florida have never been solved. Since the 1970s, investigators have documented clusters of murders across the state with troubling similarities: the same victim profiles, the same methods, and the same remote roadsides and canals. In several cases, detectives suspected a serial offender. The Florida Sheriffs Association is highlighting unresolved serial killer cold cases by utilizing modern forensic tools like DNA analysis and genetic genealogy. The Cold Case Advisory Commission meets quarterly to review stubborn homicide files with multi-agency experts. This week we take a look at some Florida serial killer cases that have remained open for decades.

Beer of the Week - Cursed Gaze, Hazy IPA by Tactical Brewing Company

Garage Grade - 4 and a half bottle caps out of 5

More True Crime Garage can be found on Patreon and Apple subscriptions with our show - Off The Record. Catch dozens of episodes of Off The Record plus a couple of Bonus episodes and our first 50 when you sign up today.

True Crime Garage merchandise is available on our website’s store page.

Follow the show on X and Insta @TrueCrimeGarage / Follow Nic on X @TCGNIC / Follow The Captain on X @TCGCaptain

Thanks for listening and thanks for telling a friend. Be good, be kind, and don’t litter!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brief Summary

True Crime Garage discusses Florida's unsolved flat tire murders and recent developments in the investigation of two teenage girls' deaths.

Key points

Unsolved Cases in Florida. Exploring the haunting unsolved serial killer cases in Florida since the 1970s.
The Flat Tire Murders. A series of unsolved murders in Florida that left investigators puzzled for decades.
Unsolved Homicides in Florida. Two young women vanished and were found murdered, raising questions about a potential serial killer.
The Profile of a Killer. Authorities develop a psychological profile of a suspected serial killer, describing him as unsettlingly ordinary.
Identifying the Suspect. In August 2023, investigators identified Robert Clark Keebler as a suspect in the murders.
The Accomplice Revealed. Detectives announced that Keebler had an unidentified accomplice involved in the murders.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's good to be seen and good to see you.

Podcast introduction

1:41WatchJul 28, 2026

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

More from True Crime Garage TV

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.