PUNTA GORDA — Detective Mike Gandy first met John Greer in the 1970s through the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office’s Explorer program.
At the time, Gandy was just starting his career in law enforcement and working in the Punta Gorda Police Department.
More than 40 years later, after joining the CCSO Cold Case Unit, Gandy came to the conclusion that Greer had killed a woman while he was in uniform.
“I wish we caught him sooner,” Gandy said.
Gandy and his fellow Cold Case detectives identified Greer as the killer of Adele Marie Easterly in a press release on New Year’s Eve.
Greer died in an intensive care facility in Kingsport, Tennessee on March 2, 2024. He was 77 years old.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Gandy highlighted both the struggles of investigating older cases and the innovations they have used to close them out.
Two deaths in a yearEasterly was killed on Nov. 5, 1979; Greer was a road patrol deputy at the time and was, in fact, the one who called in the discovery of her body.