WINTER HAVEN -- Polk detectives say they've used DNA and several generations of genealogical research to solve a 1986 murder.
They linked Donald Douglas to the stabbing death of 29-year-old Lakeland nurse Teresa Scalf through an affair by his third cousin in 1949, along with a sample from his son. Scalf was attacked on October 27, 1986. Douglas was a neighbor and part owner of an electric service company. Detectives believe he killed Scalf after being romantically rejected. He was 33 at the time and died in 2008. Detectives questioned Douglas about the murder but found nothing suspicious. He was never arrested for that crime or any other up to that point in time.
Scalf's 84-year-old mother discovered her daughter's body, and had to search for the number to call police. 911 wasn't in place in Polk County then. She says she believes she's lived this long to see the killer identified. Scalf's sister Pam Shade says she and her family didn't deserve this. A year and a half before Scalf was killed, their brother had died in a diving accident.
Shade followed Scalf's footsteps into a 38-year career in nursing. "Almost all of our family works in health care, because of (Teresa)."
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