On March 13, 2011, the Pinellas County, Florida Sheriff’s Office began investigating the disappearance of Pinellas County Police Academy Cadet Kelly Rothwell. Rothwell, 35, has not been found.
In a press release on June 14, 2011, PCSO named Rothwell’s boyfriend, David R. Perry, as a suspect in her disappearance. Rothwell was last seen on March 12, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. when she left a Clearwater restaurant to go home and break up with Perry. Her green 2007 Subaru Outback was found two miles south of her Indian Rocks Beach residence the next day. Friends and family have not heard from her since.
Rothwell did not attend class on March 14 at the Police Academy, which was in its fourth month. She did not arrive for a job interview with my police department on March 15. There were no signs of her at her apartment, which she shared with Perry. She did not graduate with Class #177 on April 13, nearly a year ago.
Perry, a former New York state corrections officer, fled to Elmira, NY on or about March 12 in his 2006 blue Honda Civic, FL tag BRC-5978. Perry refuses to be interviewed by PCSO homicide detectives, who believe Perry is “intentionally withholding information.” Perry’s car was searched, but that did not uncover any leads.
When Perry went to the Elmira Police Department to sign an impound release to recover his car on June 6, he saw Pinellas detectives waiting to talk to him. “In seeing us, he became extremely unnerved and basically fled the police station,” said veteran PCSO Homicide Detective Michael Bailey. “He ran out the front door into the parking lot.” Detectives attempted to interview Perry’s family, but they, too, did not want to cooperate. Most refused interviews. Some family members have stated that they will not talk to detectives without a lawyer present
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During the investigation, detectives learned that Perry had canceled his gym membership prior to Rothwell going missing. He told a friend he and Rothwell were moving to the State of Hawaii. Rothwell never mentioned these important details to her family. She was trying to find a police job in Pinellas County.
Perry, 47, apparently began dating another woman shortly after Rothwell’s disappearance. Coincidently, Perry married Melissa Walker, of Hawaii, in August 2011. David Perry took Walker’s name and got a Hawaii driver’s license in the name “David Walker.” Walker and Perry divorced in late 2011.
Perry had been arrested on May 5, 2011, for insurance fraud and larceny, related to a 2003 injury claim in his job as a New York corrections officer, for which he collected disability benefits. He is currently on probation for those charges.
Melissa Walker became suspicious of Perry within weeks after their marriage. According to ABC Action News in Pinellas County, 10 News asked Melissa, “Are you afraid [David] is coming after you? She said, “If I thought he was on plane to Hawaii, I’d be on a plane somewhere else.” Melissa is in the U.S. Military and stationed in Hawaii.
Pinellas Det. Bailey stated at a press conference that sheriff’s authorities do not believe Rothwell is alive. Several areas in Pinellas County were searched for possible clues in late 2011, but none were found. Pinellas detectives are attempting to find anyone with further information about Rothwell and Perry, especially between 4 and 9 p.m. on March 12, 2011.
Several of the rookies on my shift went to the Pinellas Police Academy with Rothwell. Her disappearance/murder has weighed heavily on them. Pinellas SO has done their best with what they have. I just hope this will have a fitting end with closure for the family and justice meted out.
Randall
