They strangled her and left her lying on the road in Florida: the murderer was discovered 30 years later

The case of a woman who was strangled in Florida 30 years ago has been solved. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday that they have identified the alleged killer.

The victim, Roslin Kruse, was just 23 years old. She was found dead on November 1, 1993 on the side of a road in Gibsonton, 10 miles south of downtown Tampa, CBS reported.

A DNA profile allowed authorities to match a sample taken from Kruse’s body to the daughter of his alleged killer, identified as Michael Rizzo, a man who died on March 1, 2011, 12 years ago, in Orange County.

Rizzo had initially appeared in the investigation after authorities determined that the woman got into a vehicle with an unknown man before her body was found.

Officers tracked the vehicle to a residence on Mike Drive in Tampa, where Kruse was last seen alive.

And although officers knew the pair entered the property, there was no suspicion and no immediate evidence found to suggest a crime had been committed. The man, the news network noted, lived very close to the place where the victim was found lying on the road.

Investigations allowed officers to confirm that Rizzo had picked her up on the day of her murder and the man claimed he had even left her alive.

He denied involvement in the crime and was subjected to a polygraph test, which revealed lies in his answers. However, information given by his wife complicated the investigation, CBS said.

Authorities collected a DNA sample from Kruse’s body at that time among the evidence and there was no match until November 2021, when investigators collected a DNA swab from Rizzo’s biological daughter. They found compatibility.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Friday that the investigation demonstrated cold case investigators’ commitment to bringing justice to victims and their families, no matter how much time has passed.

“We express our deepest condolences to Ms. Kruse’s family and hope that the resolution of this case can provide them with some closure,” the agent said, quoted by CBS.

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