A cold case that haunted Florida for four decades has finally been solved, thanks to the confession of a notorious serial killer. The victim was Carol Ann Barrett, an 18-year-old from Ohio who was on a Spring Break trip to Daytona Beach in 1980. She was kidnapped from her motel room by a man who posed as a police officer, while her friends witnessed the terrifying scene. The police released a sketch of the suspect, but he was never identified or caught.
For decades, the murder of Barrett remained unsolved. He was found dead in a ditch near I-95 in Jacksonville, according to the sheriff’s office. The investigation hit a dead end and was eventually shelved.
The case was reopened in 2017, and new evidence led to the identification of a suspect: Billy Mansfield Jr., a notorious serial killer. Mansfield, who is 65 years old now, was 24 when he killed Barrett, police say.
Mansfield, a convicted murderer serving life sentences in California and Florida, confessed to killing Theresa Caroline Fillingim in 1977. However, authorities did not pursue prosecution against him, as he is already behind bars for life. Mansfield is cooperating with investigators on other cold cases.