JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville family gathered at the Dinsmore Cemetery Sunday afternoon to honor the life of a young man who disappeared 24 years ago and whose remains were found a year later in Palatka.
Vanissia Wilson’s 23-year-old son, Keith Cauley, disappeared on June 16, 2000. He was last seen alive in Northwest Jacksonville.
The following summer, on Aug. 23, 2001, Cauley’s remains were found in the woods of Putnam County.
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Twenty-four years later, there have been no arrests in connection to Cauley’s murder.
“Every year we get together like this, trying to bring attention to maybe someone who will feel sorry or just get to someone’s heart and that they come forward and say what happened,” Wilson said.
Wilson said her son, who would now be 47 years old, was a happy young man.
“He loved his friends. He loved his animals. He loved his family,” Wilson said. “If you looked into his eyes, you could just see his soul.”
April Knight, Cauley’s cousin, also highlighted Cauley’s personality.
“He was a good guy. He was sweet. He always helped everybody else,” she said.
Cauley’s mother said she hasn’t lost hope and wishes police would take a deeper look into the case to finally get the justice and peace that she’s been waiting on for 24 years.
“I would like to see the police department have more resources to go after these people. If we hadn’t done a lot we had done with our family doing it, we would have never found Keith,” Wilson said.
If you have any information on this case, please contact JSO at 904-630-0500. You can also contact the family at 904-955-9606.