R.I.P. Stephen J. Perry

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This is not new news but going through the forum I didn't notice any topics about this so I thought I would post it here for postaritys sake.


His Wiki entry...


Stephen (Steve) J. Perry (December 12, 1954 – May, 2010) was an American writer of animated cartoons and comic books.


Biography
Perry wrote for the Thundercats and Silverhawks television shows in the 1980s, as well as the comic book series Timespirits and ThunderCats, among others.

In 2008 Perry was diagnosed with bladder cancer which was operated on, but reemerged in the midst of financial troubles which prompted the help of The Hero Initiative. His profile on Facebook reads, "I discovered, a year ago, I had cancer when I walked into an Emergency Room with no insurance or no doctor. They removed a tumor, kicked me out after five days, and now the cancer is back. Thanks to the Hero Initiative, I survived long enough to get Medicaid and welfare, and now have Doctors, and can get the follow up care to try and survive the return of the cancer."

Perry released a statement in praise of the help he received from The Hero Initiative which stated, "The Initiative gave me the breathing room to get some Medicaid and food stamps, and while we are always in danger of losing our home, electricity and belongings at any moment, I will always be grateful from the depths of my heart for the past six months of fairly solid home life I have had with my little boy."

Spurred on by Steve Bissette's plea to help his friend, fellow writer Elizabeth Massie headed a fundraiser for Perry on Facebook with the help of writer Laura Anne Gilman, and Horror World which started on May 3, 2010, and raised $1,140 by May 14. By the end of that fundraiser, it had been a few days since friends or family had heard from Perry.

Disappearance

According to news reports, Stephen Perry and his roommates, Roxanne and James Davis, disappeared from their home in Zephyrhills, Florida in May 2010, with the last sighting of him being on May 9. The Davises were arrested on May 21 on "probation and drug charges". In the parking lot of a Tampa, Florida motel on May 16, police found a severed arm in a van registered to Perry following complaints of a foul smell.
Over two weeks went by without public confirmation of his death, and on May 27, the Zephyrhills police confirmed that Steve Perry was the victim of a homicide. The police have also been investigating whether there is a connection with a $10 million winning lottery ticket that was bought at a nearby store just before Perry disappeared.

James Davis was eventually charged with first-degree murder in July 2010, although not all of Perry's remains had been found at that time.

Other info...

By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 27, 2010
Updated: 05/27/2010 04:44 pm

More than two weeks after comic book artist Stephen J. Perry was last heard from by his friends – and 11 days after his van was found near human remains at a Tampa hotel - Zephyrhills police now say he is the victim of an apparent homicide.
"The Zephyrhills Police Department is now investigating the disappearance of Stephen J. Perry as an apparent homicide," Capt. Rob McKinney said in a news release. "Laboratory results on evidence are still pending at this time."
Zephyrhills police confirmed last week that Perry, 56, the original writer for the popular 1980s animated show "Thundercats," was missing from his Zephyrhills home under suspicious circumstances. His roommates, James "Jimmy" Davis, 45, and Roxanne Davis, 49, had vanished from the home at 38046 Eighth Ave. as well. They have since been found and arrested on unrelated charges.
Roxanne Davis is being held without bail at the Land O' Lakes Jail on a probation violation charge. Husband James is being held on several charges including failure to appear and drug trafficking. His bail is set at $7,626.
On May 16, investigators found Perry's blue van and human remains – said by Zephyrhills Mayor Cliff McDuffie to be an arm – and tracked the van back to Perry's home, which was ransacked.
The Zephyrhills Police Department is working with the Pasco/Pinellas State Attorney's Office regarding news releases on this case, according to McKinney. The State Attorney's office could not immediately be reached for comment.
Police, however, are now confirming what some people already knew – that Perry was dead and the victim of violence.
On May 19, Zephyrhills police investigators went to the home of Krystal Carroll, the 26-year-old mother of Perry's 5-year-old son Leo.
They told her Perry – the man she lived with for eight years before moving out a year ago – was dead.
"I cried. I cried when they told me," she said, looking tired, her belly seven months pregnant from a new relationship with a fellow carnival worker and friend of Perry's.
Police say that Perry hasn't been seen since May 9. He didn't show up for a May 13 court hearing where he wanted to ask a court to make a temporary domestic violence injunction he got in April against Carroll permanent.
Carroll said police never came out and told her that Perry was murdered, but they told her Perry was dead and the victim "of a very violent crime."
Then they asked her to come down to police headquarters, sign the statements she previously made and identify mug shots of the Davises from a photo array.
She said detectives also asked her to identify a white male from a third photo array. She said she did not know whether that man was involved in the crime or why police asked her about him.
Carroll said she is glad police have finally ruled the case an apparent homicide.
"I am glad they are releasing the information to the public," she said. "At least the public will know and there will be no more speculation about whether he was murdered. I am glad that we will start coming to some kind of closure not only for me and my son, but for the rest of his family as well. I am a little disappointed I was never contacted by a detective about this."
Leo knows that his dad is dead and frequently wonders why, Carroll said.
"Leo wants to know what happened to his dad," she said. "They were very ,very close. When a 5-year-old asks, 'What happened, how did it happen,' you just can't come up with anything to say."



Aaaaand more...
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jul...news-breaking/

"
ZEPHYRHILLS - A dismembered arm found just north of Tampa.
A torso from the same man, comic book writer Stephen J. Perry, found in Wesley Chapel.
And Perry's former roommate, James "Jimmy" Davis, charged today with first degree murder in connection with the grisly slaying.
These are the circumstances surrounding what Zephyrhills police Chief David Shears is calling "an unusual and complex case" that began with Perry's disappearance two months ago.
Davis, 45, was already being held at the Land O' Lakes jail on several charges, including drug trafficking, when the murder warrant was served, Zephyrhills police Capt. Rob McKinney said.
Krystal Carroll, who had a child with Perry in the eight years they were together, said Davis' arrest has brought her some closure.
"I cried when they first told me about the arrest," she said. "But this didn't have to happen. I'd like to know why."
Investigators are still trying to determine a motive.
"But there are drugs as well as monetary remunerations that are in consideration for this particular crime," McKinney said.
Davis and his wife, Roxanne, 49, were considered "persons of interest" in the case. Roxanne Davis is still a person of interest in the homicide, McKinney said.
She is being held without bail at the Land O' Lakes Jail on a probation violation charge.
Perry, 56, a writer for the popular 1980s animated show "Thundercats," went missing from his Zephyrhills home on May 13 under suspicious circumstances.
His roommates, the Davises, a married couple with criminal histories, also vanished from the home at 38046 Eighth Ave. in Zephyrhills. The home appeared to have been ransacked.
Carroll said that Perry lost trust in the Davises and wanted them out of his home.
On May 16, guests at the Quality Inn at Bearss Avenue in Tampa noticed a foul smell coming from a blue van. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigators found an arm in a trash container nearby.
The van belonged to Perry.
Police said the body part found in the trash container was Perry's right arm.
His torso was found later on Foamflower Boulevard in Wesley Chapel by Pasco County deputies.
Perry's other body parts have not yet been recovered, McKinney said.
The police captain wouldn't comment on whether Perry was dismembered before or after he was slain.
As to why his body was dismembered, McKinney said "maybe to make it easier to dispose of the body.''
Gail Flatow, who used to live with Perry, said he was being treated for bladder cancer and was in failing health.
Perry, who wrote seven episodes of "Thundercats," also had money problems, Flatow said.
Perry was waiting for a May 13 hearing on the custody battle over his 5-year-old son, Leo, which he was waging with Carroll, the boy's mother.
Carroll said Perry couldn't take care of their child because of his poor health and depression.
Flatow tried to call him on May 10 and the phone went right to voice mail. She kept calling, but there was still no answer. Five days later, she called police asking them to do a welfare check on Perry.
Zephyrhills police said the last time anyone had seen Perry was on May 9 – the same day Flatow last spoke with him.
Perry talked about the Davises for the last couple of months before his death, Flatow says.
"According to Stephen, they were stealing his medications and they would steal money out of his wallet. That is what he told me," Flatow said.
Flatow says she doesn't know whether Perry was living in fear toward the end. But he was uncomfortable.
"There were some incidents that made him extremely uneasy," Flatow said. "He told me that one day someone drove by the house, waiving a gun out the window and yelling at Jimmy Davis, saying you 'owe money.' He was concerned about that kind of behavior around Leo. He wanted the Davises out of his house.""


Some amazing and unfortunate drama for this guy.