On May 12, 2001, 77-year-old Lillian Rose Martin and her ten-year-old grandson, Joshua Roland Paul Bryant, vanished from their home in Deltona, Florida. The two resided with Lillian's granddaughter, Joanne Miller, her husband John, and their son in the 1000 block of West Seagate Drive. Joanne, who had custody of Joshua, reported to authorities that her grandmother and brother were at the residence when she and her husband left at approximately 7:00 a.m.
Upon her return around 11:00 a.m., she found the house unlocked and her grandmother's car, a Ford Tempo, in the driveway. The master bedroom had been vandalized, but there were no signs of a struggle. Peculiarly, the television was left on, which Joanne found unusual as her grandmother would not have left it running. Joshua was apparently barefoot, as none of his shoes were missing. Lillian's purse, containing her keys, credit cards, money, and identification, was left behind, as were Joshua's bicycle and toys. There has been no activity on Lillian's bank accounts or credit cards since their disappearance.
The day before they went missing, Lillian had a hair appointment and was described as being in good spirits, discussing the recent sale of her home. On the morning of their disappearance, at around 9:00 a.m., Lillian spoke to her sister on the phone, telling her they were doing housework and that she would pick her up for a trip to the grocery store between 11:00 and 11:15 a.m. They never arrived. An extensive search was launched after they were reported missing, but no immediate clues to their whereabouts were found. Joanne and John Miller maintained their innocence and hired an attorney after being questioned by law enforcement. Their lawyer suggested that Lillian and Joshua might be living outside of Florida or even the United States.
A significant breakthrough in the case came in June 2004, over three years after they vanished, when Joshua's skeletal remains were discovered scattered in a wooded area in Cassadaga, Florida, just five miles from their home. Following this discovery, investigators announced their prime suspect: Douglas Manning McClymont, an electrician who had done work at the family's home. A month prior to the discovery of Joshua's remains, in May 2004, McClymont had engaged in a violent crime spree. He murdered an acquaintance, kidnapped the man's wife, and then drove to North Carolina where he killed a married couple and abducted his own estranged wife. He ultimately committed suicide in North Carolina after a police pursuit.
McClymont had been interviewed shortly after Lillian and Joshua's disappearance but provided an alibi, claiming he was smoking crack cocaine with friends, an account his friends initially corroborated but later recanted. After his crime spree, a witness who had seen a man with a roll of tape and a young boy enter the woods where Joshua's remains were later found, identified the man as likely being McClymont. Furthermore, one of the women McClymont had kidnapped during his rampage claimed that he had confessed to murdering both Lillian and Joshua. In the search of the area where Joshua's body was found, investigators discovered a gold watch similar to one Lillian owned, just twenty yards from where Joshua's eyeglasses were located; however, the watch was never definitively identified as hers. Lillian Rose Martin's remains have never been found, and she is presumed to be deceased. The case of her disappearance and Joshua's murder remains officially unsolved.Last Seen: May 12, 2001
