via Latest & Breaking News on Fox News <p>Human remains found by a kayaker in <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/southeast/florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Florida</a> have been identified as those of a 23-year-old woman who disappeared more than 40 years ago.</p><p>Rose Marie Gayhart was reported missing in March 1985 by her parents, who lived in Dansville, <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/northeast/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York</a>.</p><p>Before her disappearance, Gayhart was last known to be living and working in the Cape Coral and North Fort Myers area, according to the Cape Coral Police Department.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.com/us/teen-found-in-shallow-california-vineyard-grave-identified-nearly-50-years-later-as-family-warns-killer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>TEEN FOUND IN SHALLOW CALIFORNIA VINEYARD GRAVE IDENTIFIED NEARLY 50 YEARS LATER AS FAMILY WARNS KILLER</strong></a></p><p>She’d been living with her boyfriend, Robert Paddock, and his mother, Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers reported in a 2013 video aimed at drawing new attention to the <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/us/crime/cold-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cold case</a>. She’d moved to the area just three months before her disappearance, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore told Fox News Digital.</p><p>When Gayhart’s frequent letters and phone calls to her family "quickly stopped," they "had a gut feeling something was wrong," Crime Stoppers reported. They knew, according to the video, that she and her boyfriend didn't have "the perfect relationship."</p><p>After interviewing witnesses, including Paddock and his mother, detectives said Gayhart was last seen "walking down the street with a suitcase" after being "kicked out of the trailer" where the three lived. A neighbor told investigators that Gayhart "came to her house to use her phone to call her family," according to Crime Stoppers.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.com/us/killer-admits-decades-old-cold-case-slaying-investigators-lean-new-forensic-evidence-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>KILLER ADMITS TO DECADES-OLD COLD CASE SLAYING AFTER INVESTIGATORS LEAN ON NEW FORENSIC EVIDENCE: OFFICIALS</strong></a></p><p>"That's when she told her neighbor that she was pregnant and she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend did not want her to keep the baby."</p><p><a href="https://x.com/FoxTrueCrime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X</strong></a></p><p>A neighbor in the trailer park reported "a lot of arguing and a lot of crashing one night, as far as things being destroyed," according to the video report.</p><p>Gayhart had just started working at Howie’s Hot Dogs in Cape Coral.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.com/us/tipster-charged-murder-after-police-say-anonymous-call-helped-solve-30-year-disappearance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>TIPSTER CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER POLICE SAY ANONYMOUS CALL HELPED SOLVE 30-YEAR DISAPPEARANCE</strong></a></p><p>"Her boyfriend at the time went to pick her up, and she wasn't at work," Sizemore said.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/us/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE</strong></a></p><p>Restaurant staff told authorities that she’d left with a man in a red pickup truck.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/tips" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>SEND US A TIP</strong></a></p><p>Two independent witnesses reported seeing Gayhart before her disappearance with "a white male in a red pickup truck," Sizemore said.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/tips#&_intcmp=fnc_us_article_main-content_article-body_6_10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>GOT A TIP?</strong></a></p><p>Identifying him is thought to be a critical piece of information that could help solve the case.</p><p>In May 2024, a kayaker paddling in a northeast Cape Coral canal discovered a human skull and alerted police.</p><p>With the help of a <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/northeast/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York</a> law enforcement agency, Florida authorities obtained DNA from Gayhart’s family. It took two years, but testing on the skull revealed proof Gayhart had been found.</p><p><a href="https://link.podtrac.com/cjdr_fnd_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST</strong></a></p><p>"For more than 40 years, Rose Marie Gayhart’s family has carried the weight of not knowing what happened to her," Sizemore said in a news release. "While this identification brings long-awaited answers, it also strengthens our resolve.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/newsletters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS</strong></a></p><p>"No matter how much time passes, even after four decades, our investigations do not stop, and our pursuit of justice does not end," he said.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/newsletters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL</strong></a></p><p>The long-<a href="https://foxnews.com/category/us/crime/cold-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cold case</a> now is considered an active homicide investigation.</p><p>Now, Sizemore is asking for help.</p><p>"We ask anyone with information to come forward so we can help bring accountability and closure to this case and to the family."</p>https://ift.tt/LvYdFk9