Down & Away

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On March 8, 1957, prominent citrus farmer and grocery store owner Gettis Lee, 63, and his wife Merrill Lee, 60, mysteriously disappeared from their home in the rural town of Parrish, Florida. The next morning, Merrill's body was discovered face-down in a roadside ditch, having been beaten and shot four times. However, Gettis's fate remained a mystery for six years until 1963, when his skeletonized remains were uncovered in nearby brush with a gunshot wound to the head. Investigated by local authorities and the FBI, the brutal double homicide shook the small community and generated intense rumors ranging from ties to regional "bolita" gambling syndicates to marital discord. Today, despite thousands of pages of archival records maintained by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the case remains the oldest unsolved murder in the county's history.

MUSIC BY BLUE DOT SESSIONS

On Friday, October 31, 1969, schoolmates Pamela Sue Hobley (15) and Patricia Spencer (16) were reported missing from Oscoda, Michigan. They left the high school campus early that day, skipping school and hitchhiking into town. They were picked up on River Rd by a classmate, dropped off downtown, and what happened after that is mostly speculation.

If you have information about disappearances of Pamela Hobley and Patricia Spencer, please call Det. Sgt. John Richards with the Michigan State Police Special Investigation Section at 989-402-7190, or the West Branch MSP post at 989-345-0956. You can also call the Oscoda Police Department at (989) 739-9113.