Missing Tallahassee activist, 19, and woman, 75, found dead, police say

This story was updated Tuesday, June 16 at 12:13 p.m. with new information from Tallahassee police.

TALLAHASSEE — The man accused of killing two women has been charged with murder and kidnapping, Tallahassee police announced Tuesday.

But police have no indication that the man, Aaron Glee, Jr., 49, was the same man who assaulted 19-year-old protester Oluwatoyin Salau the day she went missing.

In a Tuesday news release, Tallahassee police offered new details on the deaths of Salau and Victoria Sims, 75, whose bodies were found on Glee’s property Saturday night.

Sims, a former state worker and AARP volunteer, went missing last week. Officers went to her home and found it ransacked and her car missing, police said. Information from that investigation led to Glee’s home, about 10 minutes east of Florida’s Capitol.

Glee fled to Orlando by bus before police arrived at the home, according to police. Orlando police found and arrested him.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday whether Salau’s death was related to her activism. Earlier this month, Salau tweeted she’d been molested by a man who had offered to help her. Also, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, Salua and Sims had met after recent protests over justice for black lives.

Salau’s disappearance earlier this month after protesting a recent police shooting in Florida’s capital made headlines, and news of her death prompted an outpouring of grief on social media.

She had been protesting police abuses across the country, including the death of Tony McDade, a black transgender man who was shot and killed by Tallahassee police officers just two days after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“It’s not that all lives don’t matter. Black lives matter. Trans lives matter,” Salau said in a video widely circulated on Twitter. “We’re doing this for him. We’re doing this for our brothers and sisters who got shot.”

On June 6, she tweeted that she was molested by a black man in his mid-40s who offered to give her a ride to find a place to sleep.

That was the last day Salau was seen alive. Three days later, Tallahassee police issued a plea for any information on her whereabouts.

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Police said Tuesday there is “no indication” that the incident is related to her death.

“The information and description Salau provided to police and posted on social media prior to her disappearance does not match the person ultimately found to be responsible for her murder,” police said in a statement.

Tallahassee officers had multiple run-ins with Glee in the weeks leading up to his arrest.

On May 28, officers investigated a report that Glee had punched a man at a bus stop. According to the incident report, Glee punched the man “over an argument regarding racial differences," officers wrote.

Tallahassee police cited Glee for battery for that incident and gave him a notice to appear in court on July 9. He does not appear to have been arrested.

May 29, Glee was arrested on an aggravated battery charge after an officer witnessed Glee kicking a woman in the abdomen at an intersection about half a mile from Glee’s home, according to a Tallahassee police report.

Glee told officers he knew the woman because he helped the homeless and had bought her food and drinks before, according to the report. The woman told officers the two were drinking and walking down the sidewalk when Glee asked her for a sexual favor. She refused, and Glee began kicking her, according to the report. Glee denied kicking or hurting her.

On Saturday, Tallahassee police also issued a missing persons alert for Sims, who was last seen near a shopping center less than a mile from Glee’s home, according to police.

Sims was a retired employee at the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and a longtime AARP volunteer.

In a statement, AARP Florida said Sims was a longtime volunteer for the association. She is survived by two daughters and multiple grandchildren.

“Vicki worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others," the association said in a statement. “The AARP family of volunteers and staff has suffered a grievous loss."

Police said in a statement that “each woman was passionate about improving the lives of others."

“With Salau protesting for justice and policy change with Movement 850 and Sims serving the elderly with AARP, (the Tallahassee Police Department) is committed to upholding the legacies of their service on behalf of others by bringing the person responsible for their murders to justice,” the department said in a statement.

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Coverage of local and national protests from the Tampa Bay Times

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WHAT ARE NON-LETHAL AND LESS-LETHAL WEAPONS? A guide to what’s used in local and national protests.

WHAT ARE ARRESTED PROTESTERS CHARGED WITH? About half the charges filed have included unlawful assembly.

CAN YOU BE FIRED FOR PROTESTING? In Florida, you can. Learn more.

HEADING TO A PROTEST? How to protect eyes from teargas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.