Serial killer finally named as suspect in cold case of missing Florida coed after 25 years thanks to dead prisoner's diary
- 20-year-old Tiffany Sessions was last seen leaving her Gainesville apartment in February 1989
- The University of Florida student's case gained national attention thanks to her pretty face and a $250,000 reward offer
- Police now believe Sessions was murdered by serial killer Paul Eugene Rowles, who died in a Miami-area prison last year
- Police and Sessions' family believe Rowles' diary contains coded messages that reference Tiffany and three other victims
By Daily Mail UK, 6 February 2014
A Florida college student's suspected killer was named Wednesday after her missing persons case sat unsolved for just over 25 years and its all thanks to the killer's need to chronicle his sinister deeds.
Tiffany Sessions vanished while out for a walk in February 1989. The blonde 20-year-old's pretty, smiling face gained national attention after her parents, desperate for her safe return, promised a $250,000 reward.
Now, long after the case went cold, Tiffany's family believes they can put a face and a name to the man responsible for her fate: convicted rapist, kidnapper and killer Paul Eugene Rowles. And they may soon find her body.
New evidence: Tiffany Sessions has been missing since 1989 after she went for a walk in Gainesville, Florida and investigators and her family now believe they know who killed her.
They've also renewed the search for her body and on Wednesday began excavating the spot where she may have been buried
The Sessions family will never come face-to-face with Rowles, though. He died in a Miami-area prison last year.
That death, however, is what helped police finally put a crack in the case after so many years.
Rowles left behind a diary that included the date Tiffany disappeared--February 9, 1989--alongside the number 2.
Patrick Sessions, now 67 and living in Coconut Grove, announced Wednesday that investigators believe that indicated his daughter was the killer's second victim.
Also in the dairy were what investigators believe are coded references to the names of three dead or missing women, including New Jersey native Elizabeth Foster, who was killed in 1992.
'It may not be a smoking gun, but it's close': Patrick Sessions, pictured, told reporters at a news conference Thursday
Police have all but named dead murderer Paul Eugene Rowles as the killer as he begged anyone with information to come forward and help close the case of his missing daughter after 25 years
'He's destroyed three, four families that we know of': Paul Eugene Rowles left behind a diary when he died in a Florida prison last year that Mr. Sessions believes lists Tiffany as his second victim.
Top, Patrick Sessions and his son Jason watch as authorities start excavating a field where another possible Rowles victim was found in 1992 in hopes of finding Tiffany's remains
Searching: Alachua County Sheriff's deputies started searching for the body of Tiffany Sessions on Wednesday in Gainesville. It's the same area where police found the body of Elizabeth Foster twenty years ago and is just a mile from where Sessions vanished
Two years ago, police linked Rowles to Foster's death. Foster's body was found in 1992 just a mile from where Tiffany Sessions disappeared three years before.
Police also believe one of the referenced women, presumably Rowles' first victim, is a Miami woman he served prison time for murdering before being set free in 1985.
'To me, the case is solved,' Patrick Sessions said as he watched excavators root around for his dead daughter in the same swampy field where Foster's remains were found. 'I’m convinced this is the guy who did it.'
Tiffany's mother seems to agree.
Cold case gets warmer: Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell announces to the gathered media on Thursday that detectives have identified a suspect, Paul Rowles, in the 1989 disappearance of Tiffany Sessions
Both Tiffany's father Patrick (left) and mother Hilary (right) have held out hope all these years that the family would gain some closure. 'There is a solution to every case,' said Hilary
Strange reunion: Patrick Sessions, at center, the father of Tiffany Sessions, hugs Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell at a dig site that may possibly contain the remains of his daughter Tiffany, who went missing 25 years ago
Reopened: After all these years, the new evidence has prompted authorities to start digging for Sessions' remains in an area where police believe Rowles could have dumped her body
'There is a solution to every case,' Hilary Sessions, who now lives Valrico, said. 'Some take longer than others. You just have to have faith.'
Over the years, that faith was tested many time.
Tiffany, a University of Florida student, disappeared from her Gainesville apartment with just a tape player. She said she was going out for an evening walk and was never heard from again.
In the years since, the family sent out fliers, held news conferences and even bought billboards touting their considerable reward.
At least 1,000 leads were generated over the years only to disappoint the Hilary, Patrick and Tiffany's little brother Jason.
'It is just horrible to wake up every day and not have a clue what's going on,' said Patrick Sessions told the Tampa Bay Times.
Sessions will no longer wake up wondering who took his daughter away.
Paul Eugene Rowles, who died of cancer last year at a South Florida prison, denied any connection to Sessions' disappearance before his death as police questioned him over Foster's murder.
But the notes he left behind suggested otherwise.
Quarter century: Tiffany's youth, blonde hair and bubbly good looks helped generate national attention on the case, as did the family's promise of a $250,000 reward. After years, though, leads and interest faded
Another victim: Two years before his death, Rowles was implicated in the 1992 murder of Elizabeth Foster, whose body was discovered just a mile from where Sessions disappeared in Gainesville
'It may not be a smoking gun, but it's close,' said Mr. Sessions.
Rowles died serving a 19 year sentence for the 1994 rape and kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl in Clearwater.
Thankfully, that girl was able to escape.
Prior to that, Rowles served time for killing his female next door neighbor in 1972. He was released in 1985 after only 9 years.
Rowles, police say, was working construction in Gainseville in right along Sessions' exercise route when she disappeared.
On Thursday, police announced the break in the Sessions case as they excavated in the area in hopes of finding Sessions' remains.
The Sessions family attended the press conference near the site alongside Gainesville mayor Ed Braddy and thanked each of the many investigators and journalists with whom they’ve worked since 1989.
'So why are we here and what do we know,' asked Mr. Sessions as he pointed to photos of Rowles. 'This guy is the scum of the earth. He's destroyed three, four families that we know of...no remorse.'