DNA helped identify Rose Marie Gayhart after kayakers discovered human remains in a northeast Cape Coral canal in 2024.
CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Human remains found by kayakers in a Cape Coral canal have been identified as Rose Marie Gayhart, a 23-year-old New York woman who disappeared in 1985, police announced as they opened an active homicide investigation.
The identification provides a major break in a case that left Gayhart’s relatives without answers for more than four decades. Cape Coral police said the remains were discovered in May 2024 in a canal in the northeastern part of the city. The department’s Violent Crimes Unit received confirmation of Gayhart’s identity in May 2026 with help from the District 21 Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in New York also assisted the investigation by obtaining familial DNA used to confirm the identity, Cape Coral police said. Gayhart’s parents, who lived in New York, had reported her missing in 1985 after losing contact with her while she was living and working in the Cape Coral and North Fort Myers area.
Police Chief Anthony Sizemore said the identification brought long-awaited information to Gayhart’s family while strengthening the department’s determination to learn how she died. He said investigators would continue pursuing leads despite the time that has passed since her disappearance.
Authorities are treating Gayhart’s death as a homicide, but they have not publicly announced a cause or manner of death, identified a suspect or disclosed what evidence led investigators to that classification. No arrest had been announced as of Tuesday, and police said the investigation remained active.
Gayhart was last seen in March 1985, according to her missing-person record. She had moved from New York to southwest Florida and was living in the North Fort Myers area with her boyfriend and his mother. She was also working in Cape Coral around the time she vanished.
Gayhart’s sister, Laurie Travis, previously told local reporters that the family had long suspected foul play. Travis said Gayhart appeared happy shortly before contact with her stopped, but family members later received information suggesting there had been conflict where she was staying. Those statements reflected the family’s suspicions and have not been announced by police as confirmed findings.
The remains were initially discovered nearly two years before investigators confirmed Gayhart’s identity. Authorities continued searching the area where the remains were found for additional evidence, according to local reports. Police have not released a complete inventory of what was recovered or explained whether the search produced further remains connected to the case.
Advances in forensic DNA testing have allowed investigators across the country to revisit unidentified-remains and missing-person cases that once offered few leads. In Gayhart’s case, cooperation between investigators in Florida and New York supplied the family comparison needed to establish her identity.
The identification answers one question that followed Gayhart’s family since 1985, but the central circumstances of her death remain unresolved. Investigators have not said when she died, where she was killed or whether the canal was the original location of her remains.
Cape Coral police said detectives are following every available lead as the homicide investigation continues. Authorities have not released information about a possible motive or named any person of interest.
Author note: Last updated July 28, 2026.