Melissa Jo Sermons, 26, vanished from Lakeland, Florida after a night at a Dade City rodeo on May 3, 1992. She worked with horses and was active in rodeo culture. That night she left the event with her boyfriend, 31-year-old Elwin Lawrence Larry Costine Jr., had breakfast with a friend, and returned to Costine’s trailer about 4:15 a.m. She never returned to her own residence and was reported missing when both she and Costine failed to show up for work the next morning.

On May 5, 1992, Costine was found shot to death in his trailer. He was discovered nude and had been shot multiple times in the head and back; some of his possessions were missing but investigators reported no sign of a struggle and no traces of Sermons in the home. Unconfirmed sightings of Sermons at truck stops were later discounted by authorities.

Investigators later identified Danny Cerezo, Sermons’ ex-boyfriend, as a suspect in both Costine’s murder and Sermons’ disappearance; Cerezo had stayed in contact with her family after their April 1992 breakup and knew she was seeing Costine. Reports say some physical evidence linked Cerezo to the case, but no charges have been filed and both cases remain unsolved.

If anyone knew Melissa, her movements in early May 1992, or saw her after May 3, please come forward with information that could help resolve what happened to her.