John Richard Moulis

John Richard Moulis was a son, brother, and uncle, part of a large and loving family from Wisconsin. At 37 years old, he had built a life for himself in Central Florida after moving to the Orlando area around 1986. John, a male who lived with cerebral palsy, resided at the Ridge Club Apartments and worked in janitorial services at the Splendid China theme park in Kissimmee. He may have also worked for a construction contractor connected to Walt Disney World. His family remembered him, but for nearly three decades, they had no idea what had become of him.

The last time a family member saw John alive was on January 5, 1997, when he visited his niece in California before flying back to Orlando. He was reported missing to the Orange County Sheriff's Office on January 21, 1997. The only initial clue was his burgundy-and-brown 1986 Dodge Aries station wagon, which was found abandoned and towed from the Greyhound bus station on North John Young Parkway in Orlando. At the time, there was no indication of foul play, just a man who had seemingly vanished.

On March 24, 1997, two people walking their dog in a wooded area near Fulton Street and Mangoustine Avenue in Sanford, Florida, made a grim discovery. They found skeletal remains and immediately called the police. The location was near what was then Central Florida Regional Hospital. The medical examiner determined the remains belonged to a man who had been killed by sharp-force injuries to his head, ruling the death a homicide. With no identification found at the scene, the man became a John Doe, and for decades, his case sat cold.

The break in the case came through modern science. In 2023, investigators sent a tooth from the remains for DNA analysis, but the profile yielded no matches in the national CODIS database. Then, in 2025, a forensic genetic genealogy grant provided the funding for more advanced testing. Bone samples were sent to Othram Laboratories, which developed a comprehensive DNA profile. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s genealogy team used this profile and, in July 2026, identified a possible close relative. A DNA sample from that relative provided a definitive match, and on August 31, 2026, the Sanford Police Department confirmed the remains belonged to John Richard Moulis.

For John’s family, the news brought a painful resolution after 29 years of agonizing uncertainty. In a poignant turn of events, John's sister, his closest living relative, learned of the identification just two days before she passed away. Sanford Police spokesperson Bianca Gillett noted the significance of this timing for investigators, saying, "She had wondered what happened to her brother her whole life. I know that is meaningful to the investigators, that they were able to give that closure to her before she passed."

While identifying John closed a long-standing missing person case, it opened an active homicide investigation. As of October 2026, the Sanford Police Department is working to solve his murder. "For almost 30 years, John’s family has agonized over not knowing what happened to him, not knowing if he would one day come home,” said Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith. “Investigators will now focus on discovering what happened to John, and who brutally cut his life short.” Detectives are trying to reconstruct John's life in the mid-1990s and are asking for the public's help.

Investigators are urging anyone who knew John Moulis to come forward. This includes friends, neighbors from the Ridge Club Apartments, or co-workers from Splendid China. Police believe that even a seemingly insignificant memory could provide a crucial lead in understanding the final days of his life and finding who is responsible for his death.

Anyone with information about John Richard Moulis or the circumstances of his disappearance and death is asked to contact the Sanford Police Department. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).