MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Carla Roberson, 19, had just finished a busy sophomore year at Huntingdon College and needed to relax.
She hopped in her 1983 pink Chevette and drove to Florida to stay with Ralph and Nell Roberson, an uncle and aunt who resided in Pensacola.
Once in Pensacola, she had planned to visit a male friend who had graduated from Huntingdon and soak up some sun on a beach before her return to Montgomery for summer classes and a part-time job in a doctor’s office.
On Tuesday, May 8, 1984, Roberson and Nell Roberson went to Majik Market together, and Roberson bought Heineken beer, soft drinks, and gas.
Roberson told her aunt that she wanted to stop by Cordova Mall to buy a book to read on the beach and return to her house by 5 or 5:30 pm. Roberson never returned home.
She was last seen around 1 p.m. wearing a bright red one-piece swimming suit near Fort Pickens.
Later than night, beach deputies noticed a car parked at the Gulfside picnic spot near the entrance to Fort Pickens. It was Carla’s.
The deputies searched the area and found Roberson’s purse, shoes, and towel on the beach and one set of footprints leading to the water.
Authorities spent ten days combing 15 miles of beaches and sea for Roberson but found nothing. They presumed she had drowned in the Gulf of Mexico.
But Roberson’s family said she was a good swimmer. Her watch and high school class ring were missing, and her brother, Michael Roberson, said she would never have gone swimming wearing both items; she would have taken them off and put them in her purse.
Michael Roberson did not believe someone stole them because her wallet, a small sum of money, and car keys were found in her purse.
Investigators checked with all the local pawn shops for the missing items but came up empty. Other than those items, the police had no leads in Roberson’s disappearance.
They believed someone would have witnessed an abduction take place because others were on the same beach that day. The area was a highly-populated area of the beach. Furthermore, according to one investigator, the water was rough, and “the conditions were right for undertow or riptide.”
“The probability is that she went into the water,” said homicide Detective Rhett Smith in late May 1984, “but we have no evidence to support it.”
But Roberson’s cousin, Mark Roberson stated that the water was between 60 and 65 degrees and too cold for swimming. He did not believe she would have swum in the cold water.
Roberson’s mother, Gladys Roberson never believed her daughter drowned. She always swam with a tube, and that tube was found in her car. Gladys believed her daughter left with someone she knew, perhaps the male friend she had planned on visiting. Was he with her at the beach?
Roberson has never been found and Gladys Roberson has since passed away.
Between 1982 and 1992, several young women, including Carla Roberson, went missing or were murdered in Escambia County, Florida.
- Ruby L. Brittain, 24, of Pensacola was stabbed to death on January 9, 1982. Her badly decomposed body was discovered on February 14, 1982. No further information is available but it was still an unsolved case in May 1995.
- Leigh Ann Dozier, also known as Leigh Ann Clark, 27, was found murdered in a wooded area near the Pfeiffer Cemetery on Marlane Drive on September 12, 1982.
- Tonya E. McKinley, 23, was found strangled to death on January 1, 1985, in an empty lot at the corner of Peacock Drive and Creighton Road, just one block off Scenic Highway. She had also been raped. In March 2020, Pensacola Police arrested 57-year-old Daniel Leonard Wells, of Pensacola, for her murder. Two weeks later, Wells hung himself in his jail cell.
- Patricia Lynn Stephens, 29, was found dead on March 1, 1985, in a wooded area west of the intersection of North Blue Angel Parkway and West Michigan Avenue. Manner of death was ruled a homicide. Her case is still unsolved.
- Tavia Elizabeth Bailey, 15, of Pensacola, disappeared on December 31, 1985. She has never been found.
- Vernise Wilburn, 14, of Pensacola, was found dead on August 18, 1986, in the woods on the Northwest corner of Olive Road and Sears Boulevard. She had been missing for four days. No additional information could be found on her murder.
- Mary Elizabeth Plavnick, 25, of Pensacola, disappeared on April 9, 1987, and has never been found.
- Tammie Rich, 25, of Pensacola was stabbed to death on January 25, 1988, in her Pensacola home. Eight years later, in early 1996, police arrested and charged Lloyd Salter, 36, with her murder, but they dismissed the charges seven months later when DNA testing showed blood at the murder scene was not his or the victim’s blood.
- Kelly Simms, 19, of Pensacola was found stabbed to death on October 21, 1988, in a wooded area southwest off Pinestead and Hampton Roads. She was last seen earlier that day.
- Tabbetha Kay Worford, 19, of Pensacola disappeared from her home on May 5, 1990. She has never been found.
- Melissa Lynn Eck, 15, of Pensacola, disappeared on June 25, 1992, after leaving her boyfriend’s house in the 1700 block of Blakely Avenue. She has never been found.
- Joanna Kay Otto, 15, of Pensacola, was last seen on November 20, 1992. James Earl Gibson, then 27 years old, gave Joanna a ride home after a party. She has not been seen since. Gibson is a possible suspect in her disappearance and likely murder.
Could any of these cases be connected to Carla’s?
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
I am not convinced Carla Roberson drowned in the Gulf of Mexico. The water temperature is enough to convince me that she stayed out of the water.
Carla’s watch and class ring were missing and her brother said she would never wear them while swimming. Those items should have been in her purse and were not, so of course, I’m thinking souvenirs for the killer. 😉
Carla was last seen around 1 pm. According to the police, the beach was a highly-populated area and someone would have witnessed an abduction take place.
But if she were with someone she knew and felt comfortable with, no one would think anything of it.
Beach deputies did not find her belongings until later that evening, so I think it’s possible that the one set of footprints leading to the water might not have been hers.
I also think it’s possible the male friend murdered her. I could not find his name anywhere. Were they dating or just friends?
What happened to the book Carla bought to read on the beach? She was heading to the mall to buy a book before she hit the beach. So, why wasn’t it with her personal belongings? Did she decide not to buy one?
What about clothes she probably wore OVER her swimsuit when she arrived at the beach? What happened to them?
As shown above in this post, several young women went missing or were killed between 1982 and 1992. I can’t help but think one or more might be connected to Carla’s. You never know. I know Pensacola is a decent-sized town, but anything is possible.