Mary Elizabeth Hare, an 18-year-old white female, disappeared on February 11, 1981, from the parking lot of Edison Mall in Fort Myers, Florida. She had gone there to pick up her mother from work, a routine she had done many times before. Her green Buick was found abandoned in the lot, with the doors unlocked and the keys missing. There were no immediate signs of struggle, and her disappearance bore eerie similarities to another case from the same location just weeks earlier.
In June
1981, the decomposed body of Mary Elizabeth Hare was discovered in a remote field near Alabama Road and Highway 82 in Lehigh Acres, Florida. She was found fully clothed and had been stabbed in the back, confirming her death as a homicide. The location was undeveloped and isolated, suggesting her body had been deliberately concealed. The condition of the remains indicated she had been killed shortly after her disappearance.
Authorities noted that Hare physically resembled another missing teen, 17-year-old white female Mary Opitz, who had vanished from the same mall parking lot less than a month earlier. Both young women had grown up in New York, spoke with a regional accent, and were described as well-behaved with no known personal issues. They also frequented the same local restaurant, although there was no evidence they knew each other. The similarities between the two cases led investigators to consider the possibility of a serial offender targeting young women with a specific appearance.
The prime suspect in the murder of Mary Elizabeth Hare is Christopher Wilder, a white male serial killer known for abducting and murdering young women across Florida and other states during the early 1980s. Wilder often posed as a fashion photographer to lure victims with promises of modeling opportunities. He had a history of sexual assault charges and was known to frequent shopping malls, including Edison Mall. Wilder was killed in a shootout with police in 1984, ending a six-week crime spree that claimed at least nine lives. Although he was never formally charged in Hare's case, investigators believe his methods and presence in the area strongly implicate him.
No arrests were made in connection with the murder of Mary Elizabeth Hare, and her case remains officially unsolved. However, law enforcement continues to consider Wilder the most likely perpetrator. The Lee County Sheriff's Office maintains the case as open and active, hoping that new information or advances in forensic technology might one day bring closure.
