Cheryl Lee Ray, a 37-year-old Black woman, was murdered on January 7, 1996, in Miami, Florida. Her killing was one of a series of attacks on Black women who were struggling with drug addiction; the victims were found beaten, burned, and partially clothed in or near Miami’s inner city.

Investigators interviewed more than 500 people while pursuing the case. Early attention focused on a suspect nicknamed Dread for his dreadlocked hair, but a woman who had been assaulted by Francisco del Junco nine months earlier later identified him to police. Del Junco, who worked as a dishwasher in Coconut Grove, was arrested, confessed to four murders including Cheryl Lee Ray’s, and reenacted the crimes for investigators. He was charged in the deaths of Ray, Vida Hicks, Diane Helms and Janice Cox; the killings occurred between August 1995 and March 1996.

Does anyone have information about Cheryl Lee Ray, where she lived, or people she spent time with in Miami around January 1996?