56-year-old former Thundercats writer Stephen Perry was last heard from weeks ago, his van found abandoned at a Florida motel with a severed arm nearby on May 16th.
Now, police say that Perry’s disappearance has turned into a homicide investigation. Last week, law enforcement officials confirmed that Perry had gone missing under “suspicious circumstances.” His two roommates, James “Jimmy” Davis and Roxanne Davis, were arrested shortly thereafter on unrelated charges. (Neither have been charged in relation to the case, but they are said to be “persons of interest.”)
Zephyrhills Police issued a press release Thursday:
“The Zephyrhills Police Department is now investigating the disappearance of Stephen J. Perry as an apparent homicide,” Capt. Rob McKinney said in a news release. “Laboratory results on evidence are still pending at this time.”
Perry was last seen on May 9th, and he missed a hearing on May 13th at which he planned to request that a temporary domestic violence injunction against ex-girlfriend Krystal Carroll be made permanent. Carroll, 26, spoke to Tampa Bay Online about the apparent fate of the man with whom she has a 5-year-old son, Leo:
“I am glad they are releasing the information to the public,” she said. “At least the public will know and there will be no more speculation about whether he was murdered. I am glad that we will start coming to some kind of closure not only for me and my son, but for the rest of his family as well. I am a little disappointed I was never contacted by a detective about this.”
Prior to his disappearance and presumed death, Perry had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and received assistance last year from the Hero Initiative . (In the clip below, Perry discusses how the organization helped him.)
