Where is Mary Carol Hill (Frederick)?
The case struck a nerve with me because I used to work for the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and had met Mary Carol Hill. A co-worker in my current job knew her well and we often wonder what happened to this Seminole Heights resident.
The last Time Mary Carol Carol Hill was seen was 9:30 P.M. on June 3, 1994.
"Authorities are investigating the disappearance of Mary Carol Hill, a 37-year-old mother and a student at Stetson University College of Law. Hill was last seen by a neighbor about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, standing in front of her home at 1601 E Powhattan Ave. in the Seminole Heights section of Tampa. Her sister reported her missing Monday. Tampa police Detective Gary Saunders said Hill's house was locked and her car was parked in front. "There's nothing at this point to indicate she was abducted," Saunders said. Hill is 5 feet 3 and weighs 125 pounds. She has curly red hair and blue eyes. "She was tremendously excited by beginning law school, where she hoped to continue her work as a child advocate," said her husband, Ken Frederick, who was camping in Colorado with their 5-year-old son when his wife was reported missing."
St. Pete Times
Mom's disappearance still baffling a year laterThe Tampa Tribune
June 3, 1995
Author: DIRK LAMMERS; Tribune Staff WriterEstimated printed pages: 2SEMINOLE HEIGHTS -- The people closest to Mary Carol Hill say she wouldn't just walk away from her life.
Hill, 37, appeared to have everything going for her a year ago today when she disappeared without a trace.
The Seminole Heights woman recently had taken a leave of absence from her job with the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to attend Stetson University Law School, a lifelong dream.
She enjoyed a 14-year career working to help underprivileged children, and she looked forward to returning to the state agency after earning her law degree.
Most importantly, she cherished her son, Will, now 6.
The career and most everything else possibly could have been left behind, "but not her son," says her husband of a decade, Ken Frederick, 46.
"She didn't walk away," declares one of her four sisters, Diana McCumber of Temple Terrace. "She had too much going for her."
Hill has not been seen with certainty since the afternoon of Friday, June 3, at Stetson's Pinellas County campus in Gulfport, although others may have seen her later that evening, according to Detective Jerry Keith of the Tampa Police Department.
Keith reports no unusual activity on her financial accounts or anything else bearing her name or Social Security number.
Family first began realizing something was wrong that weekend. McCumber tried to call her sister Saturday morning, "which is a ritual," but there was no answer. A second call Sunday from her parents' house yielded the same results.
Frederick, who was vacationing with the couple's son in New Mexico, says he also tried to call over the weekend. No answer. Will, missing his mother, who normally comes along for the family vacation out West, left a message on the answering machine.
The family's suspicion proved greater than a hunch a year ago Monday when Hill didn't show up for classes at Stetson.
"She wouldn't skip high school, let alone law school," McCumber recalls. She sent police to her sister's home.
"Her car was there. The house was locked. No Mary Carol," says Frederick.
Hill's law books sat opened on the table as if she had been studying. The outside light was on. Her purse and a gun were gone from the house, according to Keith.
Tampa police continue pursuing several leads and plan to reinterview several people close to Hill. McCumber says she, like her sisters and parents, is holding onto hope that Mary Carol will return one day.
Frederick is less optimistic. He fears something terrible has happened to her.
In a prepared statement, Frederick wrote that he doesn't believe Hill is alive and suspects a person "known to us, who took her from our home."
Without elaborating, Frederick maintains he has "information [that] further indicates the manner of her death and the reasons why that person, in spite of the extreme suffering of so many others, chooses not to speak the truth concerning his involvement.
"His is an act of absolute cruelty, betrayal and cowardice," the husband wrote. "I will never abandon the search."
Frederick says at this point he wants some type of closure.
"For all the good that Mary Carol has been in this world," he wrote, "she deserves, at the very least, a respectful burial."
Interestingly enough I found this on the Charley Project Website
"Fredrick was last seen at her residence in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, Florida on June 3, 1994. She was in the company of Louis Joseph Hlava, who is described as a Caucasian male and 40 years old at the time of Fredrick's disappearance. Hlava's date of birth is July 1, 1953. Neither Hlava nor Fredrick has been seen again. She left behind her burgundy Subaru station wagon, but took her purse."
So is Louis Hlava a person of interest, or a victim? The next story raises more questions.
Divers call off search for woman's body
The Tampa Tribune
June 9, 1995
Author: BRIAN K. BISHOP; Tribune Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 2
EAST LAKE -- Authorities threw in the towel Thursday after a tip led them to spend the morning and all of the previous day searching a lake for the body of a woman missing for a year.
Detectives wouldn't identify the source of their information that Mary Carol Hill of Seminole Heights may have been in a watery grave at East Lake No. 2 near Orient Road and Hillsborough Avenue.
But the Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office were summoned to the scene at 10 a.m. Wednesday to scour the lake both with divers on the murky bottom and a cadaver-smelling dog riding a boat on the shimmering waters.
Both agencies returned Thursday before the search was called off at midday.
"We've terminated the search at the lake," said police Detective Jerry Keith, the lead investigator in the case. "We still have a lot of leads to follow up."
The renewed investigation came about after discrepancies in early investigation testimony were exposed, Keith said without elaborating. When asked whether police thought Hill was dead, he said, "I have to look at all of the options."
When Hill disappeared without a trace June 3, 1994, she had recently taken a leave of absence from her job with the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to attend Stetson University Law School.
Going to law school had been a lifelong dream, and she planned to return to the state agency after earning her degree. Those closest to her doubt she would walk away from that life -- and surely not from her son, Will, now 6.
The last time she was seen with certainty was at Stetson's Pinellas County campus, although others may have seen her later that evening. Her car and home were undisturbed when police arrived two days later after being alerted by her sister.
Anyone having information about Mary Carol Hill is asked to contact the Tampa Police Department Missing Persons Unit at: (813) 276-3516 or E-Mail Missing Persons
6 comments:
I did not know about this case before reading this. But I see so many things about it that remind me of the current missing woman in Temple Terrace, Sandra Prince. Both worked in public service, both home alone, no sign of a struggle, etc.
I knew Mary Carol during her brief time in law school, and every summer since her disappearance have found myself thinking about her and wishing she could be found. The group that she entered law school with was a pretty tightly knit class, with many of the students older than the usual entering student; they were a great group, and Mary Carol was one of the nicest, very excited about school and actually enjoying (it appeared) the classes.
At the time that she disappeared, one theory I actually heard was that perhaps she had 'freaked out' about school, and decided to get away by herself. I thought this was a ridiculous theory. She loved her little boy, talking about him a lot - she wouldn't leave him like that, and I think she was mature enough to admit it IF she thought going back to school was a mistake (and I never got the impression she did think that.)
And as in the previous comment - I also had a sense of deja vu when I read about the recent disappearance of the woman in Temple Terrace.
I will occasionally enter "Mary Carol Hill" on a search engine and this afternoon discovered your recent article and comments. I especially appreciate the comments of the second "anonymous" reader, apparently a former Stetson Law School colleague. I can assure you that Mary Carol was not at all intimidated by law school and was, in fact, having a wonderful time there with you and your peers.
While I choose also to remain anonymous to avoid cruel harrassment, I am Ken Frederick, former husband of Mary Carol Hill, remarried, my son, wife, her children, and myself now living in a kinder environment, a place that I had hoped prior to her disappearance/death would have also become Mary Carol's home.
It has been 12 years and to the best of my knowledge Mary Carol's case continues to be labeled a homocide by TPD. My specific reason for writing is to clarify a question earlier in the article: "So is Louis Hlava a person of interest, or a victim?"
Louis Hlava (DOB 7/1/53) is the ONLY suspect in Mary Carol's disappearance and certain death. Mary Carol and Louis Hlava had been co-workers at the (then) HRS, we regarded him as a close friend, and we had helped him during his times of trouble. Louis Hlava gave one interview to TPD and then refused to cooperate further with the investigation and also, without explanation, discontinued any further contact with me and our son. To the best of my knowledge it is Louis Hlava whose police interview created those "...discrepancies in early investigation testimony (that) were exposed." And I, too, had early begun to discover inconsistencies and a selective withholding of information from Louis Hlava in my personal conversations with him although I had initially regarded him as yet another victim of this event.
I appreciate the continued interest in Mary Carol's case and life. I am very grateful to have shared a part of that life with her, and continue to hope that we might one day respectfully bury her.
Ken Frederick
I worked with Mary Carol at HRS---She was a very beautiful young lady-full of compassion for children. It has always haunted me that she was never found for her family to have closure.....she never would have just left-she was taken...and the years go by.....
My niece did her internship at the school her little boy went to--it was so sad. He would say" When my Mommy comes home, we're going on vacation". Someone knows what happened...I hope that soon she will have justice-and her family- for a beautiful life lost....
I Knew Mrs. Hill Personally. She was my HRS case worker back in the 80's. I was known then as Helen Michael. She was one of my favorates out of the many case workers I had. She always took the time to come see me and make sure things were going good for me in my foster homes. Did they ever find her or find out what heappened? I often search her name to see if their has been any updates on her disappearance. It`s been 23 years now since her disappearance.
Mrs. Hill was my HRS case worker back in the 80's. She was one of my favorates. Back then I was known as Helen Michael. She was one of the few that cxame and spent some time with me in my foster homes. She even threw an 11th or 12th birthday party for me at one of my shelter homes I lived in "Lake Magdeline". Did anyone find her yet? I hope they find her one day.
Helen
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