Linda Pikuritz
Unresolved
Unresolved Productions
4.5 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2021
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On 12 October 1978, 12-year-old Linda Pikuritz rode her bike from her family's home in Port Charlotte, FL to a convenience store about one mile away. This was a trip that Linda had been making regularly for months. But on this night in particular - right before Friday the 13th - Linda never returned home.
Firefighters battling a brush fire in an uninhabited region of nearby Murdock made a horrifying discovery a few hours later, which sent shockwaves through this quiet community. Years later, an arrest was made, but justice was never served...
Episode hosted, researched, written, and produced by Micheal Whelan
Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music
Theme music created and composed by Ailsa Traves
Producers: Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Gabriella Bromley, Travis Scsepko, Bryan Hall, Quil Carter, Steven Wilson, Laura Hannan, Damion Moore, Amy Hampton, Scott Meesey, Jo Wong, Marie Vanglund, Scott Patzold, Astrid Kneier, Aimee McGregor, Sara Moscaritolo, Sydney Scotton, Ruth Durbin, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Patrick Laakso, Meadow Landry, Tatum Bautista, Rebecca O'Sullivan, Denise Grogan, Jared Midwood, Michele Watson, Ryan Green, Kevin McCracken, Jacinda Class, Stephanie Joyner, Teunia Elzinga, Cherish Brady, Lauren, and Sally Ranford.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | At around 11.20pm on October 12th, 1978, a police dispatcher for the Inglewood Sheriff's |
| 0:15.7 | substation located just outside of Port Charlotte, Florida, passed by a quiet, desolate spot |
| 0:22.1 | in an uninhabited part of town. |
| 0:24.3 | This individual noticed a brush fire beginning to burn out of control in a vacant field near |
| 0:29.5 | Tigard Street. |
| 0:30.5 | They called in the fire to the Sheriff's office, who in turn contacted a local fire station. |
| 0:37.1 | Firefighters would arrive at the scene approximately 25 minutes later, noticing that most of the flames |
| 0:42.5 | had already started to burn out. |
| 0:44.7 | They were able to quell what embers remained quite easily, but made a grisly discovery |
| 0:50.5 | in the early morning hours of Friday the 13th. |
| 0:53.7 | When one firefighter went to poke what appeared to be a smoking log, he discovered that it |
| 0:58.5 | was actually the charred body of a young girl, who authorities would later determine had |
| 1:04.3 | been alive when the fire was started. |
| 1:07.6 | This is the story of Linda Pickeritz. |
| 1:16.1 | Linda Carol Pickeritz was the fourth and youngest child born to her parents, Paul and Betty |
| 1:22.2 | Pickeritz, who worked as a carpenter and a waitress respectively, rounding out the rest |
| 1:27.4 | of her immediate family were one older sister, Deborah, as well as two older brothers, Paul |
| 1:33.5 | and Joseph, who everyone called Joey. |
| 1:36.3 | Linda and her siblings grew up in New York, but the family moved down to Florida in July |
| 1:41.3 | of 1978 when Linda was approximately 12 years old. |
| 1:46.1 | They had moved down the East Coast because her parents' work schedules had been consuming |
| 1:50.5 | the better part of their week, with her father Paul, working as a stage hand for CBS |
... |
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