Who abducted and killed 12-year-old Georgia Crews?

With a population of under 2,000, Montverde, Florida is a small town in Lake County, Florida. The Florida Back Roads Travel website (www.florida-backroads-travel.com/montverde-florida.html) describes Montverde as a quiet area with modest homes. Montverde Academy is the village's most renowned institution, a beautiful private school founded in 1912. Ben Simmons, a current NBA player, attended the academy from 2013 to 2015. Bike riding is also considered safe in this area.

Montverde may have the small town feel of being safe, but this wasn't the case in 1980.

Four decades ago, Georgia Jane Crews was a 12-year-old living in Montverde, Florida. In the 1980s, residents considered it a safe place for kids to play outside and walk to the local convenience store without fear. On April 8, 1980, Georgia left her house at 5:30pm and walked to a local convenience store. Her evening plans included watching a movie and having snacks. She told her older brother Tony that she was about to walk down to the store to get snacks and would return shortly. She was wearing jeans and a tank top when she was last seen. Furthermore, she was barefoot. The convenience store was a mile away, and she frequently made the trip.

Tony became worried after his little sister was gone for a while. He walked the neighborhood looking for Georgia. He also contacted her friends to see if they had seen her. Their parents Mike and Linda Crews weren’t home. Earlier in the day, they had gone out fishing with their oldest son on Lake Minnehaha. Mike Crews was a commercial fisherman and would sometimes take his kids with him.

Georgia's parents and older brother found Tony in a panic when they returned home. Having not heard from his sister, he was upset. Her parents assumed she had visited some friends. It never occurred to them that anyone had abducted her.

Linda Crews eventually reported her disappearance to law enforcement. Montverde only had one part-time police officer. He asked neighboring counties for assistance in finding Georgia. There were three other counties that got involved and began searching for the missing girl immediately.

Tracking dogs picked up on Georgia's scent. They picked up her footprints along a dirt road. The dogs then lost their scent where the footprints ended. It was believed that she had gotten into a vehicle. It's unclear whether she got into the car voluntarily or was kidnapped.

According to Georgia’s family, she was afraid of the dark and wouldn’t stay outside. She also wouldn’t leave anywhere without notifying a family member. More than 100 locals also helped with the search. Horseback riders were also searching for Georgia.

The FBI and Orange County Sheriff's Department also participated in the search for the missing child. In the two days following Georgia's disappearance, the Lake County Sheriff's Department, Georgia's grandmother, and Montverde's police chief received phone calls from one person believed to be the same. A mysterious caller said Georgia was dead.

The caller hung up without providing any further information. No one knows if it was a prank or someone involved in Georgia’s disappearance.

The family and law enforcement pleaded with Georgia's abductor to return her home safely. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. During an April 16, 1980 stroll through Fern Park in Seminole County, a family of four discovered a dead body. Authorities assumed the deceased was Georgia Crews.

The medical examiner confirmed Georgia Crews' identity based on clothing and a bone spur. Her death was ruled a homicide. Besides being stabbed in the back, she had also been strangled. It was unknown if her killer had sexually assaulted her.

Other than a metal cross necklace, the killer left nothing behind when he murdered Georgia. Law enforcement believed the necklace may have been made from motorcycle parts. In Georgia's case, she would transition from a missing person to a homicide case.

Many of Georgia’s classmates and friends attended her funeral. She was buried next to a pond. If law enforcement or the family had hopes that the mystery caller would call back, they were wrong. The mysterious caller never called back. Residents of the small town feared a killer lived in their town. The only break came when a man named Albert Lara claimed to have killed the girl. However, he didn’t seem credible and wasn’t believable.

Despite spending many hours investigating, law enforcement did not find out who killed Georgia. Her case has now gone cold. Law enforcement believes the key to finding Georgia's killer lies in finding the owner of the cross left on her body. As of today, the case has been lost in time, and Georgia's killer has never been identified. Please contact the Seminole County Sheriff's Office at 407-665-6600 if you have any information concerning this case.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.