A 1980 Central Florida homicide victim whose identity was unknown for 43 years has finally been identified with the help of genetic genealogy, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood recently announced.
The official identification of Pamela Kay Wittman, whose body was found November 5, 1980, off I-95 north of Port Orange, has also enabled detectives to determine she was a victim of Daytona Beach-area serial killer Gerald Stano.
The positive ID was made possible by FHD Forensics with funding from Genealogy for Justice (“G4J”), a nonprofit organization that provides grants for genetic genealogy investigations of unsolved cases with unidentified human remains.
A memorial marker has now been placed in the area where Wittman was found, reading in part: “She had the voice of an angel.”
“After all these years, finally this family can answer the question of what happened to their loved one,” Sheriff Chitwood said of the closure of the case. “While this isn’t the news any family hopes to hear, I’m grateful for everyone who worked so hard to make sure we found the truth and gave Pamela a proper memorial.”
Wittman’s remains have been given to her younger sister, who traveled to Florida for an emotional meeting with the detectives and analysts assigned to the case.
Wittman was 25 years old when she was killed. A road crew working in the median of I-95 discovered her remains. Forensic examination at the time indicated she was about 30 years old, but she had no identification with her.
Stano, who confessed to killing several women in the Daytona Beach area around the same timeframe, was questioned and claimed responsibility for the homicide. He was ultimately convicted of several other murders, but the case of “Jane Doe 1980” remained unsolved.
In 2023, FHD Forensics offered to work any unsolved VSO cases that would benefit from the research. The VSO Major Case Unit and Medical Examiner’s Office submitted reference samples from several cases, including Jane Doe 1980.
After several months of research, genealogists notified VSO that they had a possible identity of Pamela Kay Wittman, born in Indiana in 1954. Detectives then tracked down next of kin, who were able to provide details about Wittman’s travels and whereabouts in 1980.
Detectives obtained familial DNA to process via the VSO Crime Scene Unit’s ANDE rapid DNA system. That process identified a match, confirming Wittman’s identity.
The new information coupled with a re-examination of evidence in the case allowed detectives to establish that Wittman was murdered by Stano, likely in late February 1980.
Stano was executed by electrocution in 1998 in Florida state prison. He received eight life sentences and three death sentences for murder convictions, and confessed or was believed responsible for dozens more murders of women and girls in Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Funding for the genetic genealogy research in this case was provided through the Dean and Tina Linn Clouse Memorial Fund, which is managed by Genealogy for Justice. The Clouses were former Volusia County residents who were murdered in Texas and remained unidentified for 41 years until forensic genealogists positively identified them in 2021.
