Teryl Orcutt was 26 years old when she was murdered. Her body was found in Clay County, Florida, more than 30 years ago, and the person responsible has yet to be brought to justice.
At around 5 a.m. on Jan. 21, 1990, Orcutt, who worked as a bank manager, left her boyfriend’s home in Jacksonville, Florida.
She was on her way to Clay Hill in Middleburg, where she lived with her mother, but she never arrived, according to Action News Jax.
Later that day, a passerby who was on their way home from work found her vehicle—a 1989 red Ford Thunderbird—abandoned on the side of County Road 218 with the engine still running.
They reported that the passenger door was wide open and the driver’s window was rolled down.
Her purse, which contained cash and credit cards, was found inside the vehicle adjacent to a spilled drink, and her prescription glasses were located on the ground about 50 feet from her car.
There was no sign of Orcutt.
Residents nearby informed law enforcement officers that earlier that day, they heard a woman screaming, “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it,” before hearing a car pulling off, News 4 Jax reported.
A search group was formed.
On Jan. 28, 1990, Orcutt was found dead. Two young boys riding an ATV discovered her partially nude body, which was arrayed in underwear, socks, and shoes, in a palmetto thicket about 100 feet from South Lee Drive and Florida 21 near Black Creek in Middleburg.
Orcutt’s remains were transported to the local medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. The results indicated that she had been stabbed twice in the chest and had a broken clavicle on her left side.
Pathologists believed that she may have been sexually assaulted, but they weren’t able to confirm it due to the body’s state of decomposition.
Many have speculated that it was a police officer who pulled Orcutt over on the dark, desolate road before murdering her. But the Clay County Sheriff’s Office verified that all law enforcement officers were accounted for on the night Orcutt disappeared.
Det. Rob Schoonover with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office stated that there have been a number of persons of interest throughout the years, but no suspects in the case.
“Someone back there in 1990, you commit a murder; you don’t keep quiet. You tell somebody; somebody knows,” said Det. Schoonover.
“All these years, the family going through this… It is going to take someone stepping up and making that phone call.”
A relative of the victim told First Coast News that Orcutt’s mother passed away from cancer before she could find out who killed Orcutt and why that person took her life.
Orcutt’s relative promised her that she “would push this, and I am pushing it, and I’m not getting nowhere. It hurts like h***.
“She has been dead 28 years. She was only alive for 26 years. It’s a crying shame that your murder goes unsolved longer than you’ve been alive.”
Relatives continue to fight for justice. They have since established a Facebook page, Justice for Teryl Lynn Steele Orcutt, to keep her memory alive.
Anyone with information regarding the unsolved murder of Teryl Orcutt is encouraged to contact the Clay County Sheriff’s Office at (904) 264-6512 or First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS.
A possible reward of up to $3,000 is being offered for more information.