The “Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee” case originally aired on Unsolved Mysteries on Oct. 14, 1992. Credit: Sumter County Sheriff’s Office
On Feb. 19, 1971, the badly decomposed body of an unidentified white female was discovered floating in Shady Brook Creek at Lake Panasoffkee under the Interstate 75 overpass in Sumter County, Florida. The victim was found with a size 36 men’s leather belt wrapped around her neck. She appeared to be wrapped in carpet, and wearing plaid green pants, a matching green shirt, and a shawl with green and yellow print, along with a Baylor wristwatch, a yellow gold ring with clear stone on her left ring finger, and a small, thin yellow gold necklace. Investigators believed that she had been dumped off the overpass approximately one month earlier.
During the initial investigation, the victim was determined to be a white female, approximately 5’ 2” to 5’ 5” inches tall and weighing between 110 and 120 pounds with dark hair and brown eyes. Forensic examination of the remains determined that she was between the ages of 17 and 24 when she was killed, she had given birth to at least two children, she had previous dental work, to include a crown on her front tooth, and had undergone the Watson-Jones procedure on her right ankle.
During the course of the investigation, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office consulted with numerous agencies and laboratories—both public and private—to assist in identifying the victim through forensic analysis. However, the state of her remains were problematic in providing a viable profile. Multiple persons of interest were interviewed, and numerous missing person cases were compared and ultimately ruled out.
For nearly 55 years, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has continuously worked to generate and follow up on leads to identify the victim and her killer. The Sheriff’s Office has made multiple attempts to engage the public’s help by distributing fliers with the victim’s reconstructed image to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and seeking help through social media platforms. Her case has received national media coverage and was also featured on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries in 1992.
In October 2025, Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee was finally identified through advanced latent print analysis as Maureen L. Minor Rowan, known by friends and family as “Cookie.” The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has identified a person of interest in this case, her estranged husband, Charles Emery Rowan, Sr., better known as “Emery,” but is seeking the public’s help in providing additional information to bring justice to Cookie and her family.
Timeline
1971 – Initial Discovery and Investigation
- February 19, 1971: Unidentified remains discovered near Lake Panasoffkee, Florida
- Immediate Actions:
- Forensic Autopsy
- Fliers with composite sketches created and distributed nationwide
- Letters sent to all U.S. sheriff’s offices seeking identification of the victim
- The initial investigation was limited by forensic technology available at the time.
1986 – Exhumation & New Forensic Techniques
- Remains were exhumed to leverage advances in forensic science.
- Forensic Efforts Include:
- Forensic anthropology (skeletal analysis for age, stature, ancestry, trauma)
- Dental comparison
- Facial reconstruction
- Early DNA testing
1992 – “Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee” case aired on Unsolved Mysteries (10/14/92)
2006 – Fingerprints for Unidentified Body Sent to FBI
- The victim’s fingerprints were sent to the FBI in attempt to identify the victim by comparing the fingerprints to the national database
2013 – Fingerprints for Victim Sent to FBI from Previous Arrest
- We now know that the victim’s fingerprints from an arrest in 1970 arrest were uploaded by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and sent to the FBI. This was unknown and only discovered after her identification was made using IDEMIA’s Storm ABIS.
2018 to Present– Continued efforts to identify the victim
- After genealogy was used to identify the Golden State Killer in California, attempts to create a genealogy profile through DNA were made.
- Numerous labs with various capabilities were consulted to no avail.
- Latent fingerprint analysis greatly improved with automated systems and high-resolution techniques.
- More detailed analysis of victim’s medical history and physical characteristics to aid in identification.
February 2025 – STORM Fingerprint System Went Live and Operational
- Sumter County Sheriff’s Office acquired Storm ABIS (Automated Biometric Identification System), a system owned by IDEMIA to provide enhanced fingerprint identification and analysis to law enforcement agencies.
October 2025
- Detectives had a persistent instinct to further pursue latent print examination.
- Detectives collaborated with the Sheriff’s Office’s new Latent Print Examiner and discussed comparisons for the prints.
- Latent Print Examiner submitted prints through IDEMIA Storm System, which resulted in a positive identification of the victim as Maureen L. Minor Rowan (“Cookie”) (DOB: 3/21/49).
- Once the positive identification was made, it was confirmed that Maureen Minor Rowan (“Cookie”) had never been reported to law enforcement as a missing person and she was not subject to entry as a Missing Person.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in solving this case. We are asking for anyone that knew Maureen “Cookie” Minor Rowan or Charles “Emery” Rowan to reach out to speak with a detective. They had ties to their last known address (1206 Windermere Way, Tampa FL). They also had ties to Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Inigma, Georgia.
“For nearly 55 years, our family lived without answers about what happened to my mother. We now know that she was ‘Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee.’ But she was more. She was a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a woman who deserved a full life. We are deeply grateful to the Sumter County detectives and the local community who never gave up on her. Now that she has been identified, our family can begin to heal. We ask anyone who has any information on who killed our mother to please come forward,” said the family in a statement.
“This is a deeply meaningful moment for our agency and our community, but more importantly to the family that has waited almost 55 years for answers. This breakthrough exemplifies the dedication of every investigator who has worked on this case over the past five decades and reflects the unwavering commitment of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office to seek the truth and deliver closure to families. This case stands as a powerful reminder of why we never give up,” said Sheriff Patrick Breeden.
Republished courtesy of Sumter County Sheriff’s Office