The following is a copy of an email sent to me from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.  If there is anyone who can help with this crime investigation please call the sheriff’s office immediately.

 

Thanks,

 

 

To make a long story short, today I contacted Deputy Mike Kelley (your fellow GCC Member) to ask him to assist me in getting a request out to the local cycling community. I wanted to ask for anyone who might have been riding the Rochelle portion of Rails to Trails on Monday 12/04/06, around noon to 1:00PM, to please contact law enforcement.

 

The reason we need to get in touch with these cyclists, and to ask this favor, is in hopes someone riding in that area on that day might have heard or seen any suspicious activity on Phifer Grade (CR 2082) that runs just a few feet off the trail there. This request is in reference to a homicide involving where a vehicle drove into that area, some of the occupants got out; one was shot to death and left in the ditch, while the other occupant(s) drove away.

 

Mike informed me that you and your club's membership would be a much more efficient way to get this request out to those we need to contact so here I am.

 

If there is any way you can reach out to your membership with this request for assistance, please do so. As we here at the Sheriff's Office continue to investigate this murder further, we need to identify any and all potential witnesses, and gather as much evidence as possible. With the help of the Gainesville Cycling Community, hopefully we can solve this horrible case, and put those responsible behind bars.

 

If you feel you can assist us in this matter, please direct anyone having information to Crime Stoppers at (352) 372-STOP. And if you have any concerns or questions about this matter, please don't hesitate to contact me and thank you in advance for your time.

 

Detective Farnell Cole

 

Alachua County Sheriff's Office

Criminal Investigations Unit

(352) 367-4173