DNA evidence helps Volusia County deputies identify victims in 2 cold case homicides

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Decades after their murders, Volusia County deputies have identified the victims of two separate homicides, officials announced Monday.

Volusia deputies said Howard “Kip” Evans, who was found dead in 1986, and Doris Regina Chavers, who was last seen alive in 1989, are no longer listed as Jane Doe and John Doe.

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Deputies said Evans’ skeletal remains were found off Pump House Road near Jones Island Road in the Ormond Beach area.

Investigators said Evens remains had violent trauma and the death was determined to be a homicide.

DNA testing was performed between 2006 and 2011, but there were no matches then, deputies said.

Deputies said a Facebook post last year led deputies to test a member of Evans’ family after discovering a formal missing person’s report was never made.

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Chavers was last seen alive at her mother’s home in Sanford in 1989 when she was 32 years old. Deputies said she was reported missing 1 year later.

Her remains were found by two fishermen in a wooded area of Enterprise Osteen Road in Osteen in 1991, deputies said.

Investigators said she had died from violent trauma and the case later ruled a homicide.

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Seminole County deputies got DNA from Chavers’ biological daughter in 2018 and confirmed her identity in January of this year.

Deputies said the investigations into the homicides of Evans and Chavers are continuing. Anyone with information about either case is asked to call the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit at 386-254-1537.

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