Violet Ellen Watzulik, 83, was last seen June 2, 2000, at her home in the 300 block of Suwanee Avenue in the Whitfield area of Sarasota, Florida. She was 4 feet 11 inches, about 106 pounds, with gray or white hair, brown eyes, wore eyeglasses, required daily medication, and had a pacemaker. Family contact waned after March 2000; her daughter filed a missing persons report in July 2000 after prolonged silence.
Family accounts say Violet may have returned to the house on June 10, packed for about two hours and said she planned an extended cruise with a man named David Richardson, whom no one else knew and whose existence could not be verified. Bank and credit accounts show no activity after early June. Investigators used search dogs, interviewed acquaintances, reviewed travel records and accounts, and involved private investigators, but no physical evidence or body was found. Carl Watzulik did not file the initial report, produced an inconclusive polygraph, and was later barred from the house for perceived obstruction.
There are no confirmed sightings, no verified travel arrangements, and foul play is suspected; the case remains an open missing persons investigation. Did anyone in the Sarasota or Naples/Fort Myers area know David Richardson or see Violet in June 2000?