On December 22, 1977, the skeletal remains of 26-year-old Terry Crew, a male, were discovered by two hunters in Zephyrhills, located in Pasco County, Florida. An investigation determined that Crew had been shot in the back of the head while seated in his van. Described as a "wheeler-dealer," Crew had reportedly collected winnings from a bet at the Tampa dog track just eleven days prior to the discovery of his body. The advanced state of decomposition indicated that a significant amount of time had passed between his death and when he was found.
Terry Crew's death occurred during a period of heightened fear in the Tampa Bay area due to a series of unsolved murders between 1971 and 1978. This string of killings, which included fourteen female and two male victims, was sometimes attributed to a possible serial killer nicknamed the "Gulf Killer." Many of the female victims had connections to sex work on the Dale Mabry Strip, a stretch of road known for its adult entertainment establishments. The methods of murder varied among the victims, with some being shot, strangled, or stabbed.
Despite the numerous investigations into the homicides during this era, there is no publicly available information regarding any arrests or identified suspects in direct connection to the murder of Terry Crew. While authorities made arrests and secured convictions in some of the other contemporaneous cases, such as the murders of Jo Ann Parnell and Cindy Carlton Stewart, Crew's case remains unsolved. The circumstances surrounding his death, including the motive and the identity of his killer or killers, have not been officially determined, leaving his murder a cold case.
