Polk County Police Department has linked the 1987 murder case of Jeanifer Weldon to James Duckett as the only accused.
Duckett, 41, a former policeofficer who was executed on July 29, was guilty of felony charges of abduction and killing of 14-year-old girl, Jeanifer Weldon.
Polk County police chief Grady Judd held a media brief on Thursday, July 30, in Winter Haven.
Before the announcement came, investigators scheduled the final meeting with state prosecutors to officially close the case file after Duckett’s execution last month.
James Duckett, the accused murderer, killed an 11-year-old Tereasa McAbee in Lake County in 1987.
How did Lakeland’s disappearance remain unsolved?
Weldon lived on North Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland and vanished on Saturday, September 19, 1987.
According to Judd, she spent that day with her beau, Johnny Marsh, her girlfriend, Angel Sullivan, and Johnny Mardsh’s mother.
The group moved to Tempa, where Judd explained Weldon purchased a stuffed kitten for her collection.
Upon their return from the trip, Marsh’s mother dropped Weldon and Sullivan off at Sullivan’s residence on Highway 98th North, where they stayed until 9 p.m.
Weldon started walking the two miles back home but never arrived.
The 13-day search ended after a mine worker, driving down a dirt road in Fort Meade, found shoes and smelt a decomposing body on October 2, 1987.
The detectives discovered Weldon’s decomposed remains in a wooded area, along with a t-shirt she wore the day she went missing.
Later, the officials determined the cause of death was strangulation and the manner was homicide.
2026-08-01 16:26:00
