The Murder Sink Mystery

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III
Aucilla Research Institute

One of the most interesting parts of the Aucilla River is where it suddenly is swallowed by the Earth. The explanation for the disappearance is the karst material which underlies this area. Karst is limestone or calcium carbonate, a soft rock that dissolves in water. As rainwater seeps into the rock, it slowly erodes, creating caves and underground rivers.
Following that initial disappearance, there are a number of deep sinkholes following the route of the underground river. Along that path, the river reappears for a short distance and then goes back underground approximately 30 times. The Florida National Scenic Trail runs along this stretch of the river and is truly a natural wonder. The trail wanders along through a primordial forest under a dense palm canopy following the underground river. Occasionally, the river emerges as a dark sinkhole, only to resubmerge a short distance along the trail. The trail leads along what had once been underground caves as may be seen from the walls of rock on either side. At places, the trees seem to grow sideways due to the land being slowly pulled into the karst subsurface. The area truly has a mysterious ambiance.

The Mystery
One particular sink hole along the trail is associated with a gruesome mystery from the 1970s. Originally called Watering Hole Sink, reportedly due to its being used as a watering hole for livestock, it is today more commonly called Murder Sink or Deadman Sink.
The mystery at that sink began on a Sunday afternoon, August 7, 1977. Two teenagers from Greenville, Florida were SCUBA diving in the sink. At a depth of about 50 feet near the bottom of the sink, one of them noticed a red and white object waving in the murky flowing water. Using an underwater light, they investigated and saw what appeared to be human bones with a skull that had a bullet hole in the forehead. They also noticed that the decomposed body was secured with bailing wire to some concrete blocks. Upon resurfacing, the very shaken young men decided to drive to Perry and report the finding to the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office.
After finally convincing officers that there really was a body in the sink, the young men were asked to return to the sink along with the officers and dive again to video the body. After the resulting video was viewed by the officers, the youth were asked to dive again and recover the remains of the body. While doing so, remains of other bodies were noticed at the bottom of the sink.

The Investigation
As might be inspected, the finding set off a large-scale operation to recover the remains of what turned out to be four bodies of obviously murdered persons and investigate the murders.
After a search was made for reported missing persons, it was discovered that four persons had been reported missing seven months earlier in Bay County in the Florida Panhandle. Further, the clothing and shoes that the missing persons were reported to have been wearing on the night of their disappearance, matched those found on the bodies in the sink. In addition, on the day that the missing people were last seen, evidence had been found suggesting that a large-scale drug operation had taken place in that area. Further, the Florida Marine Patrol had received a report and subsequently found 31 bales of marijuana floating in East Bay near that area on the same date. It was discovered that on a day or two after the victims were reported as missing, the U.S. Coast Guard had received a report that a vessel named the GUNSMOKE, that had been seen near East Bay, had been seen sinking in the Gulf about 17 miles offshore of St. Petersburg. The investigators at the Florida Marine Patrol realized that the scuttled vessel might contain information vital to the investigation and possibly even additional bodies. Therefore, diving operations began to locate the boat at the reported location and examine it. Unfortunately, the divers were unsuccessful in finding the vessel.
In early November of 1977, the unsuccessful attempts to locate the sunken vessel was discussed by the Director of the Florida Marine Patrol at a meeting of the executive staff of the Florida Department of Natural Resources. (At that time, the Marine Patrol was a component of that agency.) One of the co-authors of this writing was at that meeting. Having recently served as an officer with the NOAA fleet of hydrographic survey vessels, he at once, made contact with NOAA. After determining that the NOAA ships RUDE and HECK were working in the Gulf, he prevailed upon the agency to allow the vessels to be immediately diverted to St. Petersburg. Control stations were established and corrections for tidal drift from the reported position calculated. Then, using a wire drag technique the GUNSMOKE was located and marked with a buoy on the first day of operations. Once the sunken vessel was located, the Marine Patrol immediately dove on the wreck. Although no additional bodies were found, about ten tons of marijuana, was found on the sunken vessel as well as other evidence that would help in the solution of the mystery.

The Story
With the accumulation of evidence, the participants in the drug deal were arrested, and the mystery of the murder sink bodies began unraveling. It was discovered that the GUNSMOKE had been recently purchased from a Freeport, Texas boat agent for $40,000 by a drug syndicate and had picked up a full load of marijuana from Columbia. The vessel had then cruised up East Bay and on up Sandy Creek where it intentionally grounded to allow offloading the marijuana onto several ten-wheel trucks. Unfortunately, four innocent bystanders blundered onto the operation on the dirt road leading to the landing site. Readers will be spared the gruesome details, but the guard that had been posted on the road shot one of the bystanders and tied and gaged the other three. All four victims were then thrown into the bed of their own pickup truck and driven to the Aucilla River. There, the remaining three victims were shot and all four bodies secured to concrete blocks with bailing wire and dumped into the sink. The pickup was then driven into another nearby sink. The discovery of the bodies in the sink hole led to the solution of the Murder Sink Mystery – as well as ultimately to the arrest and conviction of the participants.