I Would Find a Girl Walking by Diana Montané, Kathy Kelly
Authors: Diana Montané, Kathy Kelly
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thigh.
“That’s pretty good! How did you do that?” He appeared to praise the work of the killer.
“I hooked her with the knife and pulled her back toward me,” Stano answered, almost like a commentator at a wrestling match.
This was just what Crow had been waiting for, the reference to the leg injury.
It had been a closely guarded fact in the case that Mary Carol’s femur bone had been broken by the force of a blow. That information had been carefully kept from the press and was known only to investigators working on the case.
Crow realized he was breathing a little more deeply, swept up in the moment by Stano’s story. Small beads of perspiration were dotting his face. For the first time, he allowed himself a little cautious optimism.
Gadberry and Crow had not wanted to intimidate Stano by taping the entire interview, going to great lengths to make it seem like a casual conversation. Now the detectives knew they must follow the letter of the law, to avoid any slipups later, should Stano suddenly develop self-induced memory loss.
Gadberry left the room to get a tape recorder. Crow and Stano sat in stony silence.
FIVE
A Graduation Trip That Ends Tragically
Then I would go out riding around, and I would find a girl walking, and hopefully she would get into my car, but she would end up making some kind of remark about my weight, music or looks. That would turn me into a different person altogether. I really don’t like to talk about that person, cause it gets me very upset.
—Gerald Stano to Kathy Kelly, November 3, 1985
C heryl Ramona Neal, 19, had come to Daytona Beach to celebrate her high school graduation, but the weekend of fun quickly turned sour.
The pretty brown-haired, brown-eyed high school senior with the open smile from Forest Park, Georgia, had gone to visit her boyfriend and childhood sweetheart, William Meadows. It was Saturday afternoon, May 29, 1976, at approximately 2:00 p.m., and Meadows was staying at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk. The door to Meadows’s room was unlocked, and when Ramona walked in, she didn’t like what she saw: four other young females, in full party mode. After arguing with a flustered Meadows, Ramona left in a huff and got in the hotel elevator, clad only in a blue bikini with white polka dots and wrapped in a beach blanket. She had $77 in cash on her. William Meadows had not engaged in any unusual activity with any of the four young women, who were just hanging out in his hotel room.
There were approximately fifteen students from Forest Park who’d come to Daytona Beach on May 28, members of the 1976 graduating senior class from Forest Park High School. The idea was to have a good time, marking that milestone of stepping into adulthood.
Nobody saw Ramona Neal again after midnight on Saturday, May 29.
Ramona’s girlfriends grew worried when she failed to return to her hotel. They called police to make a report. An officer was dispatched to the Mayan Inn, where Ramona was staying with the two young women in room 601, at 10:30 p.m. The authorities also contacted William Meadows, who confirmed everyone’s worst suspicions, that he had not seen Ramona since about 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 29.
On Monday, May 31, a distraught Jack Neal, Ramona’s father, arrived in Daytona Beach. He told police he would be staying at the Embassy Motel on North Atlantic Avenue. The next day, Neal returned to the police station inquiring if there was any further information as to the whereabouts of his daughter, one of his nine children. He also told police that he had relayed all the pertinent information to the state of Georgia and that he would be staying in Daytona Beach for one more day before returning to Forest Park. He left the family’s home telephone number.
On Friday, June 4, a sergeant with the Forest Park Police Department contacted three of Ramona Neal’s friends. All the girls, including Ramona, were graduates of Forest Park High School in Georgia.
“That’s pretty good! How did you do that?” He appeared to praise the work of the killer.
“I hooked her with the knife and pulled her back toward me,” Stano answered, almost like a commentator at a wrestling match.
This was just what Crow had been waiting for, the reference to the leg injury.
It had been a closely guarded fact in the case that Mary Carol’s femur bone had been broken by the force of a blow. That information had been carefully kept from the press and was known only to investigators working on the case.
Crow realized he was breathing a little more deeply, swept up in the moment by Stano’s story. Small beads of perspiration were dotting his face. For the first time, he allowed himself a little cautious optimism.
Gadberry and Crow had not wanted to intimidate Stano by taping the entire interview, going to great lengths to make it seem like a casual conversation. Now the detectives knew they must follow the letter of the law, to avoid any slipups later, should Stano suddenly develop self-induced memory loss.
Gadberry left the room to get a tape recorder. Crow and Stano sat in stony silence.
FIVE
A Graduation Trip That Ends Tragically
Then I would go out riding around, and I would find a girl walking, and hopefully she would get into my car, but she would end up making some kind of remark about my weight, music or looks. That would turn me into a different person altogether. I really don’t like to talk about that person, cause it gets me very upset.
—Gerald Stano to Kathy Kelly, November 3, 1985
C heryl Ramona Neal, 19, had come to Daytona Beach to celebrate her high school graduation, but the weekend of fun quickly turned sour.
The pretty brown-haired, brown-eyed high school senior with the open smile from Forest Park, Georgia, had gone to visit her boyfriend and childhood sweetheart, William Meadows. It was Saturday afternoon, May 29, 1976, at approximately 2:00 p.m., and Meadows was staying at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk. The door to Meadows’s room was unlocked, and when Ramona walked in, she didn’t like what she saw: four other young females, in full party mode. After arguing with a flustered Meadows, Ramona left in a huff and got in the hotel elevator, clad only in a blue bikini with white polka dots and wrapped in a beach blanket. She had $77 in cash on her. William Meadows had not engaged in any unusual activity with any of the four young women, who were just hanging out in his hotel room.
There were approximately fifteen students from Forest Park who’d come to Daytona Beach on May 28, members of the 1976 graduating senior class from Forest Park High School. The idea was to have a good time, marking that milestone of stepping into adulthood.
Nobody saw Ramona Neal again after midnight on Saturday, May 29.
Ramona’s girlfriends grew worried when she failed to return to her hotel. They called police to make a report. An officer was dispatched to the Mayan Inn, where Ramona was staying with the two young women in room 601, at 10:30 p.m. The authorities also contacted William Meadows, who confirmed everyone’s worst suspicions, that he had not seen Ramona since about 2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 29.
On Monday, May 31, a distraught Jack Neal, Ramona’s father, arrived in Daytona Beach. He told police he would be staying at the Embassy Motel on North Atlantic Avenue. The next day, Neal returned to the police station inquiring if there was any further information as to the whereabouts of his daughter, one of his nine children. He also told police that he had relayed all the pertinent information to the state of Georgia and that he would be staying in Daytona Beach for one more day before returning to Forest Park. He left the family’s home telephone number.
On Friday, June 4, a sergeant with the Forest Park Police Department contacted three of Ramona Neal’s friends. All the girls, including Ramona, were graduates of Forest Park High School in Georgia.
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