Rogers Michelle

American 17-year-old murder victim who was killed, along with her 36-year-old mother Joan "Jo" Rogers and 14-year old sister Christe, by serial rapist and murderer Oba Chandler. On 26 May 1989 Jo Rogers and her daughters‍ Michelle and Christe left their family dairy farm in Willshire, Ohio, for a vacation in Florida. It was the first time they had left their home state. Authorities believe Joan became lost on 1 June during the return drive from Orlando to Willshire, and had decided to take an extra vacation day in Tampa. While looking for their hotel they encountered Chandler, who gave them directions and offered to meet them again later to take them on a sunset cruise of Tampa Bay. Joan and her teenage daughters had left Orlando around 9:00 AM and checked into the Days Inn on Route 60 at 12:30 PM. They were last seen alive at the hotels restaurant at around 7:30 PM. It is believed they boarded Chandlers boat by the dock on the Courtney Campbell Causeway—part of Route 60—between 8:30 PM and 9:00 PM and that they were dead by 3 AM the next day. The victims bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay on 4 June 1989, with their hands and feet bound and naked below the waist. Autopsies showed the victims had been thrown into the water while still alive, with ropes tied to a concrete block around their necks.  Michelle had freed one hand from her bonds before she drowned.  Marine researchers at the University of South Florida estimated from currents and patterns that the victims were thrown from a boat‍—‌and not from a bridge or dry land‍—‌between two and five days before they were found. Chandler was arrested for the murders on 24 September 1992. He was sentenced to death on 4 November 1994. He maintained his innocence and continued to pursue legal appeals while on Floridas death row. Chandler was executed on 15 November 2011. In February 2014, DNA evidence identified Chandler as the murderer of Ivelisse Berrios-Beguerisse, who was found dead in Coral Springs, Florida, on 27 November 1990. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less