Pubdate: Wed, 29 Mar 2006
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2006 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Erin Ailworth, Sentinel Staff Writer

POLICE - WOMAN FOUND IN 'CRACK HOUSE'

Some had feared the Holly Hill resident was the victim of a possible
serial killer.

A 31-year-old woman missing since early last week -- and feared to be
the fourth victim of a suspected serial killer -- was found alive and
OK Tuesday, Holly Hill police said.

Theresa Marie Mills was located at an address in downtown
Jacksonville, said spokesman Cmdr. Mark Barker.

A friend of Mills' tipped off investigators to the woman's whereabouts
and also gave police an address to check out, Barker said. Agents with
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were then able to locate and
identify Mills about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"She was in what can be described as a crack house in Jacksonville,"
Barker said, adding that investigators think Mills had been there on a
"drug binge" since Thursday. Police said they do not plan to file
criminal charges against Mills.

Some had worried that Mills -- who was reported missing by her
roommate Linda Johnson on March 21 -- was the latest victim of a
suspected serial killer in Daytona Beach, where three women have been
found dead since December.

Daytona Beach police have linked the slayings of LaQuetta Mae Gunther,
Julie Ann Green and Iwana Patton, saying they think the same person is
responsible for the killings and is trying to relieve stress caused by
a close acquaintance.

Johnson could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Holly Hill police said they immediately began searching for Mills, who
was last seen about 3 p.m. March 20 when she left her Maple Leaf
Gardens apartment off Ridgewood Avenue to search for a waitress job.

Mills' disappearance wasn't made public until Friday morning.

Barker said his department followed routine procedure for a missing-
persons case: establishing a profile of the person's background and
lifestyle, talking to friends and family and making sure that the
missing person hasn't ended up in a hospital or just skipped town
without telling anyone.

Experts say all of this is part of a general police procedure in a
missing-persons case, despite the added fear of a serial killer in the
next town.

"You've got to look at the lifestyle of the person and if that
lifestyle lends them to go missing for a day or two," said a Central
Florida detective with about 12 years of experience working missing-
persons cases.

The detective, who did not want to be identified by name as someone
commenting on another agency's case, said she also would have waited
to publicize Mills' disappearance -- and wasn't surprised that Mills
had been found Tuesday.

"At least we don't have four dead from a serial killer," she said. "We
went through the same thing in many cases, where you spend days
chasing things and chasing things and then they just surface. Still
cheaper than a homicide investigation."

Law enforcement's decision about whether to immediately publicize an
adult's disappearance or to hold off is often a double-edged sword,
said Erin Bruno, the lead case manager for the National Center for
Missing Adults in Phoenix, Ariz.

"If they don't jump on the ball quick enough, they are going to be
criticized for not doing everything humanly possible," she said.
"However, when they do everything possible, the public ends up getting
mad when that person is found alive and well."

Bruno also said that missing-adult cases where foul play is suspected
are rare.

Still, Holly Hill police said that by Thursday they had become worried
by the lack of information they had on Mills' disappearance.Witnesses
had told police they had seen Mills on March 20 at Shark Lounge, 730
E. International Speedway Blvd., where some say she used to work as a
stripper.

The Daytona Beach lounge is a little more than half a mile from the
alley on North Beach Street where Gunther's body was found and is in
the same general neighborhood along Ridgewood Avenue where Gunther,
Green and Patton were known to hang out. Daytona Beach police have
said all three women were living "high-risk" lifestyles that may have
included getting into cars with strangers. Both Gunther and Patton had
been arrested on charges of prostitution.

Sometime March 22, Holly Hill police discovered Mills' purse hanging
from a large trash bin in the 300 block of South Atlantic. It
contained about $3 and some photos. They contacted Daytona Beach
police midweek and conducted an air search Thursday without result.

By Friday, police had decided to ask the public for help. They got a
tip from a friend a few days later, leading investigators to a crack
house in Jacksonville, where they found Mills.

"When FDLE interviewed her, she admitted to throwing her purse away in
a Dumpster on A1A [Atlantic Avenue]," Barker said.

Mills told authorities she chucked the thing in favor of carrying her
money in a Crown Royal bag.

"This will end our investigation," Barker said. "We feel relieved,
certainly, but it's frustrating when so much time and effort was
expended for this type of irresponsibility."
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