A former Florida deputy is named a probable suspect in a 1983 cold case that involved the body of a child being found 600 yards from where she went missing.
Thursday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office named deputy James Howard Harrison in the abduction, sexual assault and murder of Lora Ann Huizar.

“We have established probable cause to determine that Harrison abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered the juvenile victim,” said Chief Deputy Brian Hester.

“It naturally was like a disbelief, a dream,” Lora’s older brother, Joe Huizar, said of the news. “After all this time, you’re telling me you’re able to tell us who murdered our little sister?”

The eleven-year-old-girl was killed in St. Lucie County, where Harrison worked at the time.
Deputies said they established probable cause that Harrison later altered the crime scene by placing the victim in a drainage ditch.

The Huizar family said they are so grateful to Detective Paul Taylor, the cold case detective credited with solving the case.
The now-deceased deputy had worked for 10 separate law enforcement agencies in Florida since the 1960s.