Disappearance of Tiffany Sessions

Tiffany Louise Sessions, born October 29, 1968, was a University of Florida business student known to her family as "Tiffy." She disappeared on February 9, 1989, after telling her roommate she was going out alone for a power walk. Between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m., she left her apartment on SW 35th Place in Gainesville, Florida, leaving behind her wallet, identification, and keys. She was wearing a white pullover sweatshirt with "Aspen" printed on the collar, red sweatpants, and tennis shoes, and was carrying a black Sony Walkman while wearing a two-tone silver and gold Rolex watch.

After five hours without her return, Sessions' roommate notified her mother that she was missing. Police did not initially treat the disappearance as a crime, since no crime scene was located and there was no evidence she had left the apartment parking lot or that a struggle had occurred. Witnesses in the area later reported seeing someone matching Sessions' description speaking to occupants of a vehicle, but it was never confirmed whether this person entered the vehicle or was in fact Sessions.

The investigation has considered more than one possible suspect. Michael Christopher Knickerbocker, while serving five consecutive life sentences in prison, reportedly told fellow inmates he had murdered Sessions, chained her to a tree, and disposed of her body in the Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers. Investigators have questioned the feasibility of his account because he was not living in Gainesville at the time she disappeared.

As of 2014, police have said they believe convicted serial killer Paul Eugene Rowles, who died in 2013, was responsible for Sessions' disappearance and death. At the time she vanished, Rowles worked for a construction-related company near the path she was last seen on, and he did not report to work that day. An address book belonging to Rowles, found by investigators in January 2013 following interviews with him, listed known victim Linda Fida as his first killing and contained a notation, "#2 2/9/89 #2," which investigators believe refers to the date Sessions disappeared and identifies her as his second victim. The book may also contain a cryptic reference to another known victim, Elizabeth Foster, whose body was found roughly one mile from where Sessions was last seen.

Sessions has been excluded as a match against 150 unidentified decedents in the United States. The FBI has described the search for her as the largest in Florida's history. The Sessions family, working with the Alachua County Sheriff's Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, is offering a $25,000 reward for information. Sessions' mother, Hillary, wrote a book about her daughter's case titled "Where's My Tiffany?" Sessions remains missing.