‘Our family has been destroyed’: Daytona Beach police, family ask for help solving 2007 cold case homicide

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — More than a decade ago, an 18-year-old woman went to the Volusia Mall to apply for jobs and was never seen or heard from again until her body was found in a vacant lot weeks later.

Daytona Beach police said 13 years later, they still don’t know who killed Mamie Thomas in 2007.

READ: Stimulus talks: Negotiations continue on bill for unemployment benefits, $1,200 checks

Investigators and her family held a news conference on Wednesday to discuss the case and hopefully encourage anyone who saw Mamie the day she disappeared or who knows anything about what happened to her to come forward.

“We don’t know the details of what happened and it’s hard living with that day by day, every night having to sleep with that,” her brother Walter Thomas said. “So I just ask if anyone in the community has any information, please come forward.”

Investigators said there was no trauma on Mamie’s body when it was found in vacant lot at 620 S. Beach St. They said she was found partially clothed wearing a plaid green and black shirt and black Reebok sneakers.

READ: ‘We will come after you’: Local residents receive threatening emails ordering them to vote for President Trump

Police said the medical examiner’s toxicology reports came back clear.

Her family members said they used to tease Mamie for smiling so much and can’t imagine why anyone would have wanted to harm her. They said she had been visiting Volusia County from Georgia for the summer and was trying to find a job so she could stay.

“She was looking for a job the day she went missing and she never came home,” Walter said.

Police said Mamie’s sister, who worked at the mall, told her sister to take the bus home after her job interview. After that, they said she was never seen again.

Her sister Shanita said Mamie deserved better than what happened to her, and that her family deserves justice.

READ: 7 charged in Florida smuggling ring that funneled thousands of flying squirrels into South Korea

“I just want justice for my sister,” she said. “Our family has been destroyed.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Daytona Beach Police at 386-671-5100.

Watch the news conference in full below:

Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.