{"id":923600,"date":"2026-07-09T17:11:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T17:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/923600\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T17:11:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T17:11:20","slug":"they-will-always-keep-digging-sheriff-says-arrest-has-been-made-in-murder-of-20-year-old-jacksonville-mom-from-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/923600\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They will always keep digging\u2019: Sheriff says arrest has been made in murder of 20-year-old Jacksonville mom from 1987"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Six months after investigators and family renewed a call for information in the murder of a Jacksonville mother<\/a> almost 40 years ago, Sheriff T.K. Waters announced an arrest in the case on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Waters said investigators believe Gary Edward Glowacz was the man responsible for taking the life of 20-year-old Melissa Ellison<\/a>, who was found beaten to death in her home just three days after Christmas in 1987.<\/p>\n

Ellison\u2019s daughter, who was just 13 months old at the time, thankfully wasn\u2019t hurt. She was found on the couch by a roommate around 4 a.m., when she discovered Ellison had been beaten to death with a charred log that came from inside her fireplace.<\/p>\n

Waters said Ellison, who many people called Missy Taylor, was killed during a home burglary, and that the burglar who committed the \u201cheinous act of violence\u201d has been identified by the Cold Case Unit as Glowacz, who is now 70 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case was investigated continuously, re-investigated, and ultimately solved by dedicated detectives,\u201d Waters said. \u201cThey will always keep digging. They will always keep investigating, and they will consider new and innovative technologies and investigative practices so that loved ones of those taken from our community can get the answers and accountability that they justly deserve.”<\/p>\n

First Coast Crime Stoppers held an online news conference in mid-January, asking for anyone with information in Ellison\u2019s case to come forward. <\/p>\n

Without providing details, leaders from Crime Stoppers did confirm Thursday that information that came to light after that news conference \u201cplayed a pivotal role\u201d in this arrest.<\/p>\n

Waters called the arrest of Glowacz \u201ca shining symbol of our agency\u2019s commitment\u201d to seeking justice no matter how long it takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese investigations can take months. They can take years. They require both an unwavering heart and acute attention to detail,\u201d Waters said, adding that he spent 10 years in the JSO homicide unit himself.<\/p>\n

He said detectives always remember their homicide investigations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe drive around the city, and we can tell you exactly where particular homicides have taken place and the facts and circumstances surrounding those cases,\u201d Waters said. \u201cThese cases shattered the loved ones left behind, and they also weigh heavily on those of us charged with bringing these murderers to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waters acknowledged that Glowacz\u2019s arrest does not fill the void left in the lives of Ellison\u2019s family, but he hopes that it\u2019s another step in their healing process.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Six months after investigators and family renewed a call for information in the murder of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":923601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,5624,4219,3188,723,7310,167302,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-923600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-cold-case","tag-crime","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-project-cold-case","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116891136024657854","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}