On December 20, 2003, 26-year-old Jason Rodney Galehouse disappeared after a night out at the 2606 nightclub, a gay establishment in Tampa, Florida. A regular at the club, Galehouse informed his roommate between 2:45 and 3:00 a.m. that he was leaving with two white men he had just met. He was never seen or heard from again. His roommate did not see the individuals with whom Galehouse left.
The disappearance of Galehouse was quickly linked to another man, Michael Wayne Wachholtz, who went missing the following night after visiting the same nightclub. This connection sparked fear within the local LGBTQ community that a killer was targeting gay men. Both Galehouse and Wachholtz were members of the same online dating service and frequented the same gay bars in the Tampa area, though they did not know each other. In mid-January 2004, Wachholtz's body was discovered in the back of his Jeep. Galehouse's remains have never been found.
The investigation into the disappearances of Galehouse and Wachholtz led law enforcement to two prime suspects: Steven Lorenzo and Scott Paul Schweickert. Investigators discovered Galehouse's blood in Lorenzo's garage, and a search of his home uncovered disturbing evidence, including photos of naked and injured men who had been bound, as well as online chats between Lorenzo and Schweickert where they discussed fantasies of murdering men. In 2005, Lorenzo was convicted in federal court of using the date-rape drug GHB to commit sexual assaults and was sentenced to 200 years in prison. Schweickert was also convicted and received a 40-year federal sentence.
Years later, in June 2016, Scott Schweickert pleaded guilty to the murders of both Galehouse and Wachholtz and was sentenced to life in prison. As part of his plea, he agreed to testify against Lorenzo, revealing that they had conspired to lure gay men to Lorenzo's home to turn them into "sex slaves" before killing them. Schweickert admitted that they met Galehouse at the nightclub, took him to Lorenzo's house, killed him, and then dismembered his body, disposing of the remains in various trash bins across the city. In December 2022, nearly two decades after the crimes, Steven Lorenzo pleaded guilty to the torture and murder of both Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz. He subsequently requested the death penalty and, in February 2023, was sentenced to death. Galehouse's case is also potentially connected to the disappearances of several other gay men in Florida around the same time period.Last Seen: Dec 20, 2003
