Credit: St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit has positively identified the victim of a 1986 cold case homicide as Blaine Louis Brown, Jr., born December 3, 1946. Brown, who was also known by the nickname “Bunny,” was 39 years old at the time of his death.
On Oct. 7, 1986, the body of an unidentified male was discovered bound and shot multiple times in an execution-style killing in a grove area approximately ¼ mile southwest of Selvitz Road on Ralls Road. At the time, robbery was ruled out as a motive, as the victim was found with a large sum of cash in his pockets and wearing expensive clothing.
In 2019, Detective Paul Taylor of the Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation with renewed focus and new technology. In 2020, a court-authorized exhumation of the victim’s remains allowed for additional biological samples to be collected. DNA results remained insufficient for forensic genetic genealogy until March 2024.
On Jan. 8, 2025, a genealogy report identified potential first cousins of the victim. Subsequent contact with several family members, including a half-brother in Ohio, led to the submission of a confirmatory DNA sample. Testing confirmed the victim’s identity as Blaine Louis Brown Jr.
Brown was reported missing to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 7, 1986, the same day his body was found in Fort Pierce. According to his family, he was last seen on Sept. 26, 1986. Brown was the owner of Double B Farms, Inc., a horse ranch in Ocala, and Brown’s Fine Furniture in the same city. Interviews with family members indicated that Brown may have been involved in narcotics smuggling, and he had ties to Ocala, Miami, Fort Pierce, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1980s.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact Detective Paul Taylor of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit at (772) 359-4407 or by email at [email protected]. Tips can also be submitted anonymously throughTreasure Coast Crime Stoppers at www.tcwatch.org.
Republished courtesy of St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office