Cold case closure: Woman’s murder solved nearly 40 years later, Jacksonville police say

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The nearly 40-year-old killing of a Jacksonville woman has been solved, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.

Annie Mae Ernest, 38, was found dead in Springfield in September 1985. Police have determined that the man responsible, Robert Richard Van Pelt, killed himself three years later after he was involved in a shooting in Tampa, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.

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Case background

Ernest was found dead in the 1100 block of Market Street on Monday, Sept. 9, 1985.

The Medical Examiner ruled Ernest’s death a murder and JSO Homicide investigators determined that Van Pelt, who was going by the name Robert Vance, was a person of interest, as “He was believed to be one of the last known contacts she had prior to her death,” according to a news release from JSO.

Van Pelt “freely admitted to socializing with the victim, but also stated he was not involved in her death,” the release said.

He said he would submit to a polygraph test for the police, “however, he failed to show up at the agreed upon time the following day.”

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JSO went over to Van Pelt’s apartment and found it had been abandoned and they could not find him.

Investigators learned at this time that “Robert Vance” was an alias name.

“Efforts to locate Van Pelt were exhausted, and the case was ultimately suspended until he could be located for further interview,” JSO said in its release.

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Renewed efforts to find the killer

Detectives again looked at Ernest’s case in 2008 and tried to find Van Pelt, but they did not find him.

After speaking to “Project: Cold Case,” a Jacksonville-based nonprofit organization that spotlights cold cases nationwide, Ernest’s family reached out to JSO Cold Case detectives in July asking for an update on the case.

“Using modern technology and databases, along with current investigative techniques, detectives were able to determine Van Pelt had fled to Tampa immediately following the murder of Annie Mae, assuming a second alias, ‘John Leroy Harris,’” JSO said in its news release.

Investigators found a Tampa Police Department report from 1988 that “Harris” was involved in the shooting of a woman. She survived, but Harris took his own life after the shooting.

Research into Harris revealed an incident report written by the Tampa Police Department in 1988. The report indicated he had been involved in the shooting of a female victim in their jurisdiction. That victim survived the shooting, but Harris took his own life following the incident.

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Cold case closure

Investigators reviewed all of the evidence and records from the incidents, as well as fingerprint analysis, and determined that “‘Robert Vance,’ ‘John Leroy Harris’ and ‘Robert Richard Van Pelt’ were all the same person -- Robert Richard Van Pelt, White Male, 39 years old in 1985,” JSO said.

JSO’s Cold Case Unit presented its findings to the State Attorney’s Office Fourth Judicial Circuit, which “concurred with the investigative findings.”

Van Pelt would be charged in Ernest’s murder if he were still alive. JSO said in December, “the case was Exceptionally Cleared – Death of Offender.”

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