14 year old Rachel Karin Hurley (1990)

[maverick1862]

Victim: Rachel Karin Hurley
White Female, 14
5’, 98 lbs., brown hair & eyes

On March 17, 1990 at 2:45 PM, Rachel Hurley left her friends at the Jupiter Beach Inlet Park, Jupiter Florida. Rachel walked south on the public beach towards Carlin Park where she was to meet her mother at 3:00 PM. Rachel did not arrive to where her mother was waiting and at 4:00 PM a search of the area was started.

The body of Rachel was discovered in a heavily wooded area roughly 300 yards north of where Rachel was to meet her mother. Rachel died as a result of asphyxiation and was sexually assaulted.

On the day of her death Rachel was 14 years old and was wearing blue shorts, a green bathing suit top and a white T-shirt.

While walking South on the beach, Rachel passed numerous people on the beach and persons around the pool area of the Jupiter Beach Hilton.

This homicide occurred on a public beach on St. Patrick’s Day, 1990. If you were staying at the Jupiter Beach Hilton during this weekend or have any information relating to this case please contact:

Detective Sgt. William Springer
Cold Case Unit
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
561-688-4013

[maverick1862]

On Saturday, March 17, 1990, at approximately 8:30PM, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office was advised of the following discovery. The body of a white female approximately 14-15 years of age had been located in a dense palmetto (palm) clump contained in the borders of a Palm Beach County Park. The park is known as Carlin Park, which is surrounded by the city limits of Jupiter, Florida. Carlin Park is located one-half mile south of the Jupiter Inlet bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Intracoastal Waterway, to the north by property owned by the Hilton Hotel and to the south by private residential areas.
Carlin Park is frequented heavily during all time periods of the year and especially on the weekends. The body was subsequently identified as being white female Rachel K. Hurley, DOB 101475.

During the day prior to the time of her death, Rachel Hurley had been spending time with her friends on another beach area just north of the crime scene known as Jupiter Inlet Park. Rachel mentioned to friends around 2:45PM that she had to leave the area and walk the approximate one-half mile to Carlin Park. She had been instructed to meet her mother at the north end of the pavilion area of Carlin Park at 3:00PM. Her mother was to drive her home because of other commitments for the day. When Rachel did not arrive at the scheduled 3:00PM time, her mother telephoned various friends and acquaintances who might possibly have information regarding the whereabouts of Rachel.

A witness, who was 16 years of age at the time, and considered to be an intelligent and observing person, was interviewed two days following the homicide. The witness stated he had been at Carlin Park on the day of the murder. After hearing the news of the murder from the media he recalled the following event. The incident occurred at about 3:30PM, on March 17, 1990. His attention had been drawn to the area of the north pavilion building of Carlin Park when he observed a white male in his late thirty's, approximately 6 feet tall, lean in build, having short blond hair and a thick beard, appearing to have a sunken chest and having a small patch of chest hair. The suspect male was wearing dirty blue jeans, was carrying a blue colored T-shirt and wore construction type boots. The suspect attracted the attention of the witness because he had scratches on his chest, right shoulder and down the right shoulder blade and back area.

For weeks literally hundreds of calls were received at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office regarding the case. People were calling and advising of the location of vagrants and homeless persons who were living in wooded areas throughout the northern part of Palm Beach County. Hundreds of suspects were checked out and none was found to closely resemble the description given by the witness. Numerous persons were interviewed as suspects but none could be linked to the crime.

During the first week of March 1999, with the request and committment of the victim's parents, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office decided to submitt this case to the Vidocq Society for a review. Their review of the case in June of that year initiated several avenues for further investigation but to date nothing has been substantiated sufficiently to obtain an arrest warrant for any of the known suspects.