FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A since-deceased Florida deputy who worked across the state and had a history of inappropriate behavior with young girls during his tenure is considered the probable killer in a November 1983 homicide of an 11-year-old girl, investigators concluded.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office closed the cold case involving Lora Ann Huizar after identifying former Deputy James Howard Harrison as the person who likely killed her, Chief Deputy Brian Hester announced Thursday.
Harrison died in 2008.
"We have established probable cause to determine that Harrison abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered the juvenile victim and later altered the crime scene by placing the victim in a drainage ditch in an attempt to destroy physical evidence," Hester said in a statement.
Witnesses reported on Nov. 6, 1983, a uniformed patrol deputy, who later was identified as Harrison, watched Huizar walking toward home from a local gas station at about the time of her disappearance, the sheriff's office said. The young girl's body was recovered in the area on Nov. 9.
Investigators say the two locations were within Harrison's assigned zone in western St. Lucie County. At the time, detectives couldn't associate him with the girl's death or anyone else.
But last year, analysts at a private DNA lab recovered unknown male DNA from Huizar's sexual assault kit. Cold case detectives then exhumed Harrison's body to review the DNA, but the comparison was not successful due to degradation.
The sheriff's office said that those who were familiar with the original investigation confirmed Harrison told two witnesses to leave the scene where Huizar's body was found about 20 minutes before other law enforcement officers could arrive. It also was learned that the location and position of the girl's body were different from the initial witness statements.
The sheriff's office suspects Harrison may have been involved in other sexual assault cases across the state. He reportedly worked at 10 separate law enforcement agencies since the 1960s and "exhibited a pattern of inappropriate behavior involving juvenile females."
Harrison worked at the following agencies, according to the sheriff's office:
- 1961-1963 Orange County Sheriff’s Office Jail (Correctional Officer)
- 1963-1966 Brooksville Police Department
- 1966-1967 Groveland Police Department
- 1968-1973 Hernando County Sheriff’s Office
- 1973-1977 Osceola County Sheriff’s Office
- 1976-1978 Edgewood Police Department
- 1979-1982 St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office
- 1982-1983 Glades County Sheriff’s Office
- 1983-1984 St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office
- Unknown dates Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office
- Unknown dates Okeechobee Police Department
During a news conference, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara shared he worked with Harrison in the late 1970s and early 1980s and, at some point, complained to his supervisors about suspicions of the deputy having inappropriate relationships.
"Not sexual, not anything like that but his interactions with young adults, I thought, was inappropriate," Mascara said. "...My supervisor told me because he was a preacher that he was spiritually mentoring children at risk and teenagers at risk.
"As I look back...in my mind, I wonder, if he was using his authority as a deputy sheriff and his standing as a preacher in the community to go ahead and violate children during the entire course of his life."
Anyone who might have any information about Harrison in this or other alleged crimes is asked to all the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office criminal investigation division at 772-462-3230.
"The day I solved this case was both the worst and the best day of my 30-year career in law enforcement. Nobody dislikes a bad cop more than a good cop, and it felt bittersweet to finally provide the victim’s family with some long-awaited answers," cold case detective Detective Paul Taylor said in a statement.