BY SARA WARD AND ZOEY RITCHIE
In Volusia County, there are approximately 54 unsolved cold cases, some dating back to the ’50s. As part of an initiative to reopen and re-examine these cases, the DeLand Police Department is concentrating on one of its oldest cases: a murder that occurred 44 years ago.
Mellie Coger, 68, was found beaten to death Feb. 10, 1981, in her East Michigan Avenue home, according to the DeLand Police.
Since 1981, new DNA technology has been developed that wasn’t previously available, detectives said.
Detectives resubmitted physical evidence from the original 1981 search warrant and believe they have located a suspect.
Though his name has not been released, an incarcerated 64-year-old man from Sanford, currently imprisoned for a 1987 homicide in Oviedo, is believed to be the culprit, detectives said at a press conference Feb. 20.
“We have an idea who this person is … this person is currently incarcerated, so they’re not a threat to anybody in the public today,” DeLand Police Chief Jason Umberger said.
The effort to crack these cold cases comes on the heels of other pushes to revitalize stalled cold cases in Volusia County — just in 2024, two high-profile cases were solved here using recent advances in DNA technology.
One was a tip that revealed there were human remains during the excavation of a suspected burial site of the two-decades-old case of 16-year-old Autumn McClure. The other involved the identification of a Volusia County serial killer’s victim after 43 years — Pamela Kay Wittman, previously known as “Jane Doe 1980” — using forensic science to link her to a 1980 Gerald Stano murder case.
DeLand Police are now making a push on the 19 cold cases that are unsolved in DeLand.
Detective Cpl. Roger Spires, Chief Umberger and their crew are committed to solving these cases and doing what they can to bring these families justice.
“We’re gonna look at these cases, and we’re gonna exhaust every possible avenue that we can exhaust to try to get justice,” Umberger said.
Like at least 50 other families still waiting, Coger’s family has longed for answers.
“Our family has never given up hope that justice will be served for our grandmother,” Tamra Crane, Millie’s granddaughter, said. “We are deeply grateful to Corporal Spires and the DeLand Police Department for their dedication in reopening her case. We remain hopeful that the new evidence will bring the answers we’ve been waiting for over the past 44 years.”
Crane said her grandmother, who raised her, was a caretaker in the community. She was known for helping those in need around her and being a loving soul. The individual who is believed to be responsible for her death may have taken advantage of that, the family and Police Department said.
“When I think about her, it hurts,” Crane said.
Chief Umberger underlined the importance of solving cold cases.
“No matter how much time passes, every unsolved case remains a priority of ours … we’re going to use all the technology that’s available to us,” Umberger said. “We’re going to use good old-fashioned police work, and we’re going to get answers — get justice for families and for people that can’t speak for themselves anymore.”
Red City
The house where Mellie Coger lived and died was located in the heart of Red City, an African American neighborhood that extended from East Michigan Avenue to East Wisconsin Avenue.
If you were to visit this site today, you would not find Coger’s home. Instead, you would enter Patricia Wilson Field, the softball field for the Stetson Hatters, along with student dormitories.
