Gainesville, Florida, is the county seat of Alachua County. It is best known among true crime fans for the gruesome college murders in August 1990 when Danny Rolling viciously slaughtered five students, one from Santa Fe College and four from the University of Florida.
Another well-known case from Gainesville is the disappearance of Tiffany Sessions, last seen in February 1989.
A young boy vanished without a trace from Gainesville one year before Rolling’s horrific rampage and six months after Tiffany disappeared.
Danny Randall Jackson was born on August 10, 1977, and had recently celebrated his 12th birthday.
The Jackson family resided in the 3500 block of NE 11th Terrace in Gainesville. Little is known about their life, but the Jackson family’s world crashed when Danny disappeared on August 25, 1989.
Danny’s brother and a friend last saw him around 8:30 p.m. He was sitting alone inside a neighbor’s vehicle, parked in the man’s driveway, and listening to the radio. Danny’s brother said the neighbor eyed Danny from inside his house. He also noticed someone had removed the neighbor’s bedroom window screen.
Danny never returned home. His mother thought he had spent the night at a friend’s house. When he never returned, the family reported him missing to the Gainesville police.
The neighbor had been convicted of sexually assaulting a young boy. He had also provided beer and marijuana to older boys in Danny’s neighborhood. Someone told investigators Danny was not allowed inside the man’s home. The man feared the boy would inform an adult about the alcohol.
Hazel Powell, Danny’s mother, befriended the neighbor, hoping to obtain information about her missing son. She noticed a horrible smell coming from a nearby drainage ditch. However, when police searched it and the neighbor’s home, they found nothing.
Detectives investigated an unconfirmed sighting of Danny on the night he disappeared. A witness reportedly saw him in a brown four-door 1978 or 1979 Chevrolet Impala with two unidentified white men outside the Handyway Food Store on NE 23rd Street. The car might have had damage to the right front panel.
The witness described both men to the police. One was in his early 20s with brown hair pulled into a ponytail. He was of medium build. The other guy was about 18 to 20, roughly 5’8″ tall, and 150 pounds. He had brown hair and a mustache.
There were a few sightings of Danny in the Gainesville area after he vanished, but police later discounted them. However, the sightings caused the police to label Randy a runaway initially, changing it to “missing” a few days later.
In late March 1991, American golfer Tim Simpson attached a picture of Danny and other missing children to his bag during the Players Championship in Jacksonville Beach. Simpson hoped his act of kindness would help find the children.
Three years after Danny vanished, a witness spotted him with a man on Manasquan Beach in New Jersey in August 1992. The man “had a strong hold on the boy’s arm,” according to Asbury Park Press, and the woman thought it was strange because of the boy’s age. Danny would have been 15 when the sighting occurred.
A few days later, the witness received a mailer containing Danny’s missing information and identified Danny as the boy with the man. She then contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The witness described the adult male as between 35 and 45, about 5’9″ tall and 155 pounds, with dark hair, fair complexion, and possibly a small mustache. New Jersey authorities appealed to the public for information, but nothing further happened with the lead.
Florida investigators looked at other possible suspects in Danny’s disappearance but found no evidence linking another person to the case.
Hazel moved away from Gainesville around 1995. I have no idea where she is today or whether she is still alive. I could not find any information on his siblings either.
If you have any information regarding Danny’s disappearance, please contact the Gainesville Police Department at 904-334-2400.
Sources
Fisher, Lise. “Search for county’s missing job for police, families.” The Gainesville Sun. December 1, 2005. https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2005/12/02/search-for-countys-missing-job-for-police-families/31468008007/
Good, Meaghan. “Danny Randall Jackson.” The Charley Project. https://charleyproject.org/case/danny-randall-jackson
Laidlaw, Renton. “Local Hero Going Home for Glory.” Evening Standard (London, England). March 27, 1991.
Shipkowski, Bruce. “Help Finding Missing Boy is Still Sought by Police.” Asbury Park Press (New Jersey). January 9, 1993.