Cheryl Ann Commesso (June 28, 1970 - c. March 15, 1989) was a young woman who disappeared in 1989 and was found murdered in 1995, remaining unidentified until July 1996. Franklin Delano Floyd was eventually convicted of her murder; he also kidnapped her friend and coworker Suzanne Sevakis as a child, and confessed to the murder of Sevakis' son, Michael Hughes, whose remains were never recovered. Floyd was never charged with the suspicious death of Suzanne Sevakis.
Disappearance[]
Commesso was an aspiring model employed as an exotic dancer while she lived in Florida. Through her job, she met and befriended Suzanne Sevakis, then using the alias “Sharon Marshall," who had recently relocated to the area along with her son, Michael, and Franklin Delano Floyd, who had kidnapped her as a child. Floyd posed as the father of Sevakis, and would eventually marry her before her death in 1990.
Floyd often attended shows where both Commesso and Sevakis worked. None of the employees were allegedly fond of him, with some witnessing him touch Sevakis in a sexual manner or hear him make objectifying statements about her.
Floyd and Commesso did not get along, and their interactions became more heated leading up to her disappearance. Prior to going missing, a coworker overheard Commesso imply to Floyd that she would report him to the police. In combination to this, the fact she did not display any signs of being intimidated by Floyd likely drove him to violence.
Discovery[]
Commesso’s skeletal remains were discovered along Interstate 275 in Saint Petersburg, Florida, after a member of a maintenance crew kicked what he later recognized as a skull. Some jewelry and clothing were also at the scene, as well as fragments of what appeared to be hair extensions and artificial fingernails with a distinctive design. The location would usually be concealed by water run-off and other debris, and plant growth had also concealed the remains. A single breast implant was later found in the vicinity of the dump site, which was presumed to be linked to the woman.
Investigation[]
Two gunshot wounds to the back of the head were determined as the cause of her death. Early into the investigation, it was feared the victim may have been unreported missing, based on the fact that many decedents located along highways tend to be “high risk” with a greater chance of familial estrangement. Commesso, however, was reported missing.
Anthropological examinations of the bones indicated the female was 18-20 years old, and of European descent. Early into the investigation, Tiffany Sessions, a Florida college student who disappeared in early 1989, was compared and excluded through dental comparison. Keith Hunter Jesperson, a trucker who killed in various states, including Florida, was also of interest at the beginning of the investigation. Jesperson had confessed to murdering an unidentified woman he called “Suzanne” in Florida, whose remains were found in September 1994. "Suzanne" would later be identified as Suzanne Kjellenberg in 2023. Despite knotted clothing being present in the area of Commesso’s neck giving the appearance of a potential strangling, which was part of Jesperson’s modus operandi, he was excluded as a likely suspect after it was found that the victim had been shot twice, which differed from any known murders committed by him.
After the recovery of the breast implant, its serial number was used to match the product to the recipient. Additional medical data, including dental records, confirmed the young woman was Cheryl Commesso.
Gallery[]
Media[]
- Cold Case Files detailed the case during by their initial run.
- Secrets of the Morgue featured the case on their episode “Dance with the Devil.”
- The Netflix documentary Girl in the Picture detailed the case, although primarily focusing on Sevakis and Hughes.
- Commesso's photo and reconstruction appear in Karen T. Taylor's Forensic Art and Illustration.
Sources[]
- Doe Network (archived)
- Franklin Delano Floyd on Wikipedia
- Tampa Bay Times
- Secrets of the Morgue
- Girl in the Picture
Notes[]
- ↑ Identification date varies between sources.