Case Details

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This person was missing Missing Since 01/05/1995

Missing Since:

Missing Since 01/05/1995

Missing From:

Missing From Punta Gorda, Florida

Classification:

Classification Endangered Missing

Gender:

Female

Race:

Race White

Date of Birth:

Date of Birth 07/01/1952 (72)

Age:

Age 42 years old

Height and Weight:

Height and Weight 5’6, 140 pounds

Clothing/Jewelry Description:

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, brown eyes. Flahive’s ears are pierced. She has a full-stemmed rose tattoo on her outer left leg that extends from her knee to her ankle, and tattoos on both arms and on her right wrist. She is missing a front tooth.

Details of Disappearance:

On January 5, 1995, Deborah Flahive disappeared from Punta Gorda, Florida. She told her family she was going to pay bills downtown that day. The last time anyone saw her was late that night in a grocery store parking lot. Her father later learned she might have been at J.D.’s Lounge, a bar she frequented.

Police investigated thoroughly but found very little. They believe she was murdered by someone she knew, and that person likely still lives in the Punta Gorda area. Because she was a regular at local bars and restaurants, they think the killer may have also been a regular at those same places.

Two people are considered suspects:

* **Phillip Barr:** He was convicted of murdering another woman in Punta Gorda in 2001 and is serving a life sentence. Police searched his old property in 2019 looking for Flahive’s body, but found nothing. He remains a person of interest.

* **Jonathan Charles Payne:** He died in 2011. He was a regular at the same bars as Flahive and lived in Punta Gorda at the time of her disappearance. Because he worked in construction, police considered the possibility that he used heavy equipment to hide her body.

Flahive worked as a cocktail waitress and was involved in the biker scene. She may have struggled with drug and alcohol use.

Despite the investigation, Flahive’s disappearance remains a mystery.

Agency:

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department 941-575-5361

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