In the winter of 2014, the life of 37-year-old Dana Rodriegus Mayo, an African American man from Nashville, Tennessee, was tragically cut short. On December 15th, Mayo left his home around 4:00 p.m., telling his mother he would be right back. He never returned. After he failed to come home and was not answering his phone, his mother reported him missing the following day, on December 16th.
A sense of unease settled over his family as hours turned into a day.
The search for Dana ended in heartbreak on the morning of Wednesday, December 17th. Police were dispatched to a vacant house on Flicker Drive shortly after 8:00 a.m. following a report of a car that had been parked in the driveway since Monday evening. Inside the vehicle, a white Mercury Grand Marquis, officers discovered Dana Mayo in the driver's seat. He had been shot multiple times. Investigators believe the shooting occurred around 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 15th, as there were reports of gunshots in the area at that time.
Despite the passage of time, no arrests have been made in connection with Dana Mayo's murder, and the case remains an unsolved homicide. The Nashville Cold Case Homicide Unit continues to seek information from the public that might lead to a breakthrough in the investigation. The community and his surviving family, including his children and parents, are left to remember a life taken too soon and to hope for a day when justice will be served.
