The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) has identified the man responsible for the abduction and murder of an 18-year-old woman, Carol Ann Barrett, nearly 44 years ago. Barrett, a college student visiting Daytona Beach for Spring Break from Ohio, was abducted from a motel in Daytona Beach Shores on March 23, 1980, and her body was later found in Jacksonville.
Despite efforts by JSO over the years, Barrett’s case remained unsolved until it was reopened in August 2017 by the Cold Case Unit. In 2020, a person of interest was identified as Billy Mansfield Jr., who would have been 24 at the time of Barrett’s murder. Mansfield is already serving multiple life sentences in a California prison for other Florida murders.
After police interviews spanning over two years, Mansfield confessed to abducting and murdering Barrett. The police sketch depicting the suspect matched Mansfield. The State Attorney’s Office in the 4th Judicial Circuit decided not to seek prosecution in Barrett’s case, as Mansfield is already serving a life sentence in California.
JSO stated that Mansfield, now 65, is fully cooperating with detectives in other jurisdictions regarding additional cold cases.