Post by tonya on Mar 25, 2006 22:02:17 GMT -5
Yet another victim I fear. Somebody needs to figure this out. ...
Tonya
March 25, 2006
Missing woman's friends worry about serial killer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Police are not yet connecting the disappearance of a Holly Hill woman to the serial killer who murdered three prostitutes in Daytona Beach since December. But Friday, a woman who worked rehabilitating streetwalkers said the missing woman was a prostitute she had tried to help.
"Oh no, don't tell me she's missing," said Aida Rosa Bowers, who used to run Heaven's Garden, a rehabilitation center for prostitutes. "We used to see her over on beachside a lot and we ministered to her."
Police are looking for 31-year-old Theresa Marie Mills, also known by the nickname "Blaze."
Mills vanished Monday after Holly Hill police and her roommate said she took off walking along Ridgewood Avenue looking for work.
A witness told police that she last saw Mills at the strip club Shark Lounge on Monday night looking for work as a cocktail waitress. Wednesday afternoon, a Daytona Beach officer found Mills' purse hanging from the side of a Dumpster near the Shark Lounge, at the 300 block of Atlantic Avenue. She had $3 and a phone number for her roommate, Linda Johnson, inside the bag.
"I'm very concerned because of the serial killer," Johnson said. "She was aware of that and she promised me that she would never go out looking for a job at night."
Holly Hill Police Cmdr. Mark Barker has not connected Mills to the serial murders and neither have Daytona Beach investigators. But Barker said there is an obvious concern and "nothing is being ruled out."
"Usually when someone disappears, you hear something within a couple of days, but this girl has just disappeared completely," Barker said. "There is a heightened sense of urgency because of what's happening in Daytona Beach."
Since December, three prostitutes have been shot to death in the city, and three weeks ago a profiler with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told Daytona Beach detectives they had a serial killer in their midst who is acting out his frustrations on "substitute victims."
Of the three women killed, only one -- 45-year-old Laquetta Gunther -- had a criminal record for prostitution, but the other two, Julie Green, 34, and Iwana Patton, 35, did not. However, friends and acquaintances of each of the women have said they all worked as prostitutes and all had drug problems.
Johnson said Mills had worked temporarily as a waitress at a cafe on Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach, but quit because she had no transportation. The roommate said Mills was not a prostitute, but said her friend, who is "like a daughter" had once worked as a stripper at the Shark Lounge on International Speedway Boulevard.
State records show Mills, who has 11 tattoos, has been arrested numerous times for possessing cocaine and drug paraphernalia. She was convicted for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in 2004 after she was arrested by Jacksonville sheriff's deputies. Johnson said Mills, who has no relatives that she knows of, is a Jacksonville native.
Bowers said many of the hookers that she and her volunteers had helped around the Ridgewood Avenue area and on the beachside did not have arrest records for prostitution.
"A lot of these girls are good at what they do and some of them are very careful and they just don't get caught," Bowers said. "But this girl (Mills) was on the street and I knew her."
Bobby Crow and Rick Jollymore, two regulars at the lunchtime gathering of the Homeless Assistance Center on North Street, just steps from Ridgewood Avenue, said they also knew Mills from "seeing her on the street." Both men said they last saw her a week ago.
"She was a very sweet girl," Jollymore said. "She sometimes asked for money, but not much money."
Missing Woman
Theresa Marie Mills, 31, of Holly Hill, also known by the nickname Blaze, was last seen Monday when she left her Holly Hill home to look for work along Ridgewood Avenue.
Mills was last seen wearing blue jeans, black knee-high boots and a pink and black T-shirt with the words "Brooklyn Princess"on the front.
Among Mills' many tattoos are a fairy on her back and a rose on her chest. She also has an elaborate design on the right side of her neck.
Anyone with information about Mills is asked to call Holly Hill police at (386) 248-9475 , or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277 TIPS (8477).
Tonya
March 25, 2006
Missing woman's friends worry about serial killer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Police are not yet connecting the disappearance of a Holly Hill woman to the serial killer who murdered three prostitutes in Daytona Beach since December. But Friday, a woman who worked rehabilitating streetwalkers said the missing woman was a prostitute she had tried to help.
"Oh no, don't tell me she's missing," said Aida Rosa Bowers, who used to run Heaven's Garden, a rehabilitation center for prostitutes. "We used to see her over on beachside a lot and we ministered to her."
Police are looking for 31-year-old Theresa Marie Mills, also known by the nickname "Blaze."
Mills vanished Monday after Holly Hill police and her roommate said she took off walking along Ridgewood Avenue looking for work.
A witness told police that she last saw Mills at the strip club Shark Lounge on Monday night looking for work as a cocktail waitress. Wednesday afternoon, a Daytona Beach officer found Mills' purse hanging from the side of a Dumpster near the Shark Lounge, at the 300 block of Atlantic Avenue. She had $3 and a phone number for her roommate, Linda Johnson, inside the bag.
"I'm very concerned because of the serial killer," Johnson said. "She was aware of that and she promised me that she would never go out looking for a job at night."
Holly Hill Police Cmdr. Mark Barker has not connected Mills to the serial murders and neither have Daytona Beach investigators. But Barker said there is an obvious concern and "nothing is being ruled out."
"Usually when someone disappears, you hear something within a couple of days, but this girl has just disappeared completely," Barker said. "There is a heightened sense of urgency because of what's happening in Daytona Beach."
Since December, three prostitutes have been shot to death in the city, and three weeks ago a profiler with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told Daytona Beach detectives they had a serial killer in their midst who is acting out his frustrations on "substitute victims."
Of the three women killed, only one -- 45-year-old Laquetta Gunther -- had a criminal record for prostitution, but the other two, Julie Green, 34, and Iwana Patton, 35, did not. However, friends and acquaintances of each of the women have said they all worked as prostitutes and all had drug problems.
Johnson said Mills had worked temporarily as a waitress at a cafe on Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach, but quit because she had no transportation. The roommate said Mills was not a prostitute, but said her friend, who is "like a daughter" had once worked as a stripper at the Shark Lounge on International Speedway Boulevard.
State records show Mills, who has 11 tattoos, has been arrested numerous times for possessing cocaine and drug paraphernalia. She was convicted for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in 2004 after she was arrested by Jacksonville sheriff's deputies. Johnson said Mills, who has no relatives that she knows of, is a Jacksonville native.
Bowers said many of the hookers that she and her volunteers had helped around the Ridgewood Avenue area and on the beachside did not have arrest records for prostitution.
"A lot of these girls are good at what they do and some of them are very careful and they just don't get caught," Bowers said. "But this girl (Mills) was on the street and I knew her."
Bobby Crow and Rick Jollymore, two regulars at the lunchtime gathering of the Homeless Assistance Center on North Street, just steps from Ridgewood Avenue, said they also knew Mills from "seeing her on the street." Both men said they last saw her a week ago.
"She was a very sweet girl," Jollymore said. "She sometimes asked for money, but not much money."
Missing Woman
Theresa Marie Mills, 31, of Holly Hill, also known by the nickname Blaze, was last seen Monday when she left her Holly Hill home to look for work along Ridgewood Avenue.
Mills was last seen wearing blue jeans, black knee-high boots and a pink and black T-shirt with the words "Brooklyn Princess"on the front.
Among Mills' many tattoos are a fairy on her back and a rose on her chest. She also has an elaborate design on the right side of her neck.
Anyone with information about Mills is asked to call Holly Hill police at (386) 248-9475 , or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277 TIPS (8477).
