Crime Solvers Central
Crime Solvers Central
307 Cases Solved. Advancing justice for missing persons, unsolved homicides, unidentified and unclaimed remains.

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Christina Franke was 25 and a student at the University of Central Florida when she was found dead in her Orlando apartment on October 21, 2001. She was discovered lying face down and partially undressed with a single gunshot wound to the head. About $300 in tip money she likely earned that day at Cigarz Bar at Universal Orlando CityWalk was missing. The medical examiner found no indication of rape, but investigators reported drops of seminal fluid on her body believed to be left by the man who shot her.

After years with no match to the DNA recovered at the scene, investigators uploaded the crime-scene DNA to a genealogy database and identified Benjamin Lee Holmes as a suspect. Holmes, 42, was arrested in 2018; his defense claimed someone else planted his DNA. Prosecutors relied on circumstantial evidence at trial, and a jury found Holmes guilty of first-degree murder, resulting in life without parole. Holmes maintains his innocence.

Did anyone who knew Christina in Orlando around October 2001 see or hear anything that might shed light on her last hours?