The location where Laquetta Mae Gunther was found

This is the alley where the Daytona Beach Killer, Robert Hayes, dumped the body of Laquetta Mae Gunther.

It is located beside 703 North Beach Street in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Gunther was found wedged between the two buildings above on December 26th, 2005. She was partially clothed and lying in a fetal position.

Hayes had shot the 45-year-old in the back of the head with a Smith & Wesson pistol and then dumped her remains in a narrow alley beside an auto parts store.

The medical examiner determined that Gunther was murdered on Christmas Eve, which was the same day that she had failed to show up for dinner at a friend's house.

DNA was recovered from the body, which later proved to be a match with Hayes.

Gunther was a house painter and former cook who had moved to Daytona Beach from North Carolina in 1985. She was also a sex worker with a history of drug abuse. At the time of her death, the mother-of-two was living on nearby Madison Avenue.

Gunther's best friend, Stacey Dittmer, said that she left her house on December 24th and promised to return later that night, as the pair had a Christmas Eve tradition of cooking dinner together.

When she failed to show up, Dittmer assumed that she had drank too much or lost track of time.

The following morning, Dittmer went looking for Gunther at local bars and noticed that the police had sealed off this area in the 700 block of North Beach Street. However, at the time, she had no idea that her friend had been found dead.

The murder remained unsolved for nearly 14 years.

In 2019, investigators used genetic genealogy to identify Hayes as Gunther's killer. The DNA evidence also linked him to the murders of Julie Green and Iwana Patton.

Hayes was found guilty of the crimes in February 2022. One month later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Photos

Photos of the site and other related images.

North Beach Street

Image source: Google Maps

Gunther was discovered in this narrow alley between 703 and 705 North Beach Street in Daytona Beach.

The alley, which is now blocked off by a metal fence, sits on the southern side of a store called BAC Imported Car Parts Tools.

The building on the right is a lift station that belongs to the city's utilities department.

Following the murder, Stacey Dittmer and Gunther's other friends turned the small strip of land into a memorial by leaving flowers and candles at the site. However, city workers removed these items in 2011.

Murder

Image source: The Orlando Sentinel

Gunther's body was discovered at 3.40 p.m. on December 26th, 2005. She was "crouched in a fetal position" next to 703 North Beach Street.

It was determined that she had been shot in the back of the head with a 40-caliber Smith & Wesson Sigma Series VE.

The police believe that she got into a car with Hayes.

Robert Hayes

Robert Hayes was found guilty of murdering Gunther, Julie Green, and Iwana Patton between December 2005 and February 2006.

He has also been charged with the 2016 killing of Rachel Bey.

The police questioned Hayes in 2006 after they learned that he had purchased a Smith & Wesson Sigma Series VE shortly before Gunther was found murdered. However, they did not consider him a viable suspect.

A criminal profiler for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement suggested that the "unsub" was white. This part of the profile may have led investigators astray, as some of the officers were reportedly shocked when genetic genealogy identified Hayes as the Daytona Beach Killer.

Daytona Beach Killer

Image source: Daytona Beach Police

In 2006, the police released a map that highlighted the locations where the Daytona Beach Killer victims had been found.

The three women were sex workers who were known to frequent Ridgewood Avenue and Atlantic Avenue.