For Immediate Release
September 25, 2023
 
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, South Carolina, request the public’s help in identifying the suspect in the 1995 murder of Kissimmee resident Maria Telles-Gonzalez. Maria’s body was recovered in South Carolina. It is believed the suspect murdered Maria in Florida and then transported her body to Yemassee, South Carolina.
 
Maria was 36 years old at the time of her death, a wife and mother of three. She was never reported missing. Her remains went unidentified from 1995 until December 2022 when
South Carolina Beaufort County Sheriff PJ Tanner and cold case investigator Bob Bromage announced that she was identified as Maria Telles-Gonzalez of Kissimmee, Florida. She was identified through advanced DNA technology and genealogy research. Investigative leads identified a possible witness known only as Carlos, who may have been an Orlando area resident.
 
Investigators are requesting the public to review 1995 photographs of Carlos, as well as age-progression images, and provide any information on his identity.
 
Carlos is Hispanic and believed to be between 5’08” – 5’10” tall. People familiar with Carlos reported he spoke Spanish and very good English.
 
More information about the case is featured in this video: Cold Case Investigation | Maria Telles-Gonzalez investigation update - YouTube.
 
If you have information about the murder of Maria Telles-Gonzalez or the identification or whereabouts of Carlos, please contact Beaufort County cold case investigator Bob Bromage at 843-816-8013. 

Background
On May 24, 1995, an employee from the South Carolina Highway Department discovered a deceased woman in a drainage ditch on Cotton Hall Road in Yemassee, SC. Sheriff’s deputies and investigators began investigating the death. An autopsy was performed at the Medical University of South Carolina. Pathologists deemed the woman’s death a homicide. The woman, who was clothed in only underwear, was not identified at the onset of this investigation. Additionally, there were no personal effects at the scene to help identify her. Investigators provided information on her death to local media and employed forensic technologies available at the time to try to identify her. Efforts to identify her in 1995 proved unsuccessful and the case grew cold.
 
Over the years, the unidentified woman’s DNA was tested against many others. A lead didn’t generate until October 2022 - a possible biological son of the unidentified victim. The man was contacted, and he consented to upload his DNA profile into a database. Within minutes, a parent-child match between the unidentified victim and the son was reported.
 
After more than 27 years, she was identified as Maria Telles-Gonzalez, who was 36 years old at the time of her death, a wife and mother of three.
 
Investigators have been in contact with Maria’s family members who reported to have last seen her in 1995 at their Merrimack Drive home in Kissimmee, Florida. Investigators traveled to Florida to interview Maria’s family members.
 
Through the investigation and interviews of various family members, it was learned the day following Maria’s return from a trip to Puerto Rico in May 1995, she left her Kissimmee, Florida home after her three children went to school. She never returned. It was also learned that Maria’s husband was home alone with her when the children went to school. She left without her vehicle. The suitcase she arrived from Puerto Rico with was also gone.
 
Maria was never reported missing. As anticipated, identifying Maria brought quick focus on a possible person of interest.
 
Currently, investigators are trying to identify a person closely connected to Maria; a male friend/boyfriend, known only as “Carlos.” He is believed to have lived in the Orlando, Florida area.
 
The investigation into the murder of Maria is ongoing and active.
 
More information about the case is featured in this video: Cold Case Investigation | Maria Telles-Gonzalez investigation update - YouTube.


Anyone with information about Maria Telles Gonzalez’s disappearance or murder is encouraged to call cold case investigator Bob Bromage at 843-816-8013 or via email at robertb@bcgov.net. 

For Further Information Contact:
FDLE Office of Public Information
(850) 410-7001