LARGO, Fla. — In 1982, Retha Hiers, a wife and mother of six, went out to buy laundry detergent and never returned to her Largo home. Now, nearly 40 years later, her daughter remembers it like it was yesterday.
“None of it adds up. It is a mystery. I can remember the day at the age of 14 when she disappeared...I can remember her standing at the door waving goodbye that was my last time seeing her,” said Dana Hiers.
Retha's car was found four months later in Clearwater. Investigators say she had an affair with Cleveland Hill Junior, an asphalt contractor and former minister. Detectives say two other women he dated also disappeared. Margaret Dash disappeared in 1974, Hiers in 1982, and Donyelle Johnson vanished in 1989.
“My mother was in a relationship with this guy so it was two other women. One before her, one after her, and they all three disappeared. Mysteriously they just disappeared," Dana said
Hill was never charged with a crime in the disappearances of these three women. 10 Tampa Bay originally followed the case and reported that in 1968, Hill shot his wife and mother-in-law and served time for those crimes. He was later sentenced to drug trafficking in 1992. He was released from prison in 2008 and later died in Virginia.
“I need closure," Dana said. "I mean it’s been too long. Someone in the community knows someone knows something but no one will say nothing."