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Husband indicted in case of Hernando County woman who went missing in 1981

 
Merl 
Mackey
Merl Mackey
Published Oct. 30, 2015

The husband of a Hernando County woman who disappeared in 1981 has been charged with her murder.

Evelyn "Laverne" Mackey was last seen Nov. 5, 1981, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. Her new husband, Merl Mackey, told her then-14-year-old daughter that her mother had left to visit a sick relative out of state. But that relative said they never saw Evelyn Mackey, and Hernando officials said she was never seen or heard from again.

In September, a Levy County grand jury indicted Merl Mackey, 72, for first-degree murder, according to records. He was arrested in New Mexico by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the Levy County Sheriff's Office, and brought to the Levy County Detention Center.

Levy sheriff's officials did not say when he was captured. He was booked into the county jail Saturday, according to jail records, and is being held without bail.

According to a Levy County Sheriff's Office statement, Hernando sheriff's investigators kept working the case. They interviewed several witnesses and determined that Evelyn Mackey was killed in Levy County, according to the statement. Her body has never been recovered, and no other details about the case were released.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said it will release more information about the 34-year-old cold case at a later date.

Times staff