After 46 years, the St. Petersburg Police Department has identified a man found murdered in 1980 as Johnny Bradshaw, 29, of Tennessee. The identification, announced Friday, closes a decades-long cold case that relied on an artist’s rendering and a unique pendant found on the victim.
Bradshaw and another man, Jack Roy Davis, were discovered shot to death at the Siesta Motel on 34th Street in St. Petersburg, according to police. Davis was immediately identified, but Bradshaw remained unknown, becoming the department’s last remaining unidentified homicide victim. For years, investigators hoped someone would recognize Bradshaw from the rendering or the Italian horn pendant he was wearing, but the investigation stalled.
The breakthrough came through advanced DNA technology, according to authorities. Bradshaw’s sisters had been searching for him since his disappearance in 1980. Detective Wallace Pavelski explained that, at the time of the murders, investigators lacked the tools and resources available today, including DNA databases and sophisticated forensic techniques. “He didn’t have any ID on him,” Pavelski said. “He didn’t have any fingerprints on file. And obviously, back then, we didn’t have DNA in the system.”
The identification provides closure for Bradshaw’s family, who have waited nearly half a century for answers. The case remains a homicide investigation, and authorities have not released details regarding potential suspects or motives.
