16 - Murder in Parrish

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