Troy Burress
Troy Burress left on a delivery route from Gilchrist Sausage early on the morning of July 30. When he didn't return that afternoon, his manager Johnny Mae Thompson started calling around and discovered Burress hadn't shown up at his last few delivery stops of the day. She and her husband went out looking for him later that night. At 2:00 a.m. Burress's wife reported him missing. At 4:00 a.m Marion County sheriff's deputies found his truck on State Road 19, twenty miles east of Ocala. It was unlocked and the keys were missing. So was Burress. He was then found five days later after being reported missing. A family out for a picnic in the Ocala National Forest came upon his body in a clearing just off Highway 19, about eight miles from where his truck was found. The heat and humidity had hastened decomposition, precluding identification at the scene, only leaving his wide identifying his wedding ring. He had been killed with two shots from a .22 caliber gun, one to the chest and one to the back. Investigator John Tilley's initial suspect was a drifter named Curtis Michael
Blankenship. He had been hitchhiking on Highway 19 the day of Burress's finding and was picked up close to the abandoned truck. It became evident as the investigation progressed, however, that Blankenship was not involved. For the time being, Tilley had no more suspects.
Blankenship. He had been hitchhiking on Highway 19 the day of Burress's finding and was picked up close to the abandoned truck. It became evident as the investigation progressed, however, that Blankenship was not involved. For the time being, Tilley had no more suspects.