Suvechha Sarkar
Pamela Jane Cahanes, lovingly known as Pam, was a 25-year-old Navy recruit who had just begun building her career. However, she lost her promising life forever in August 1984 when she was killed in Sanford, Florida. Authorities soon launched an investigation to determine how the celebration of completing her basic training ended so tragically. Investigation Discovery’s ‘On the Case With Paula Zahn: An American Tragedy’ explores the details surrounding the case, which went cold for more than three decades before genetic genealogy helped catch the killer. The episode also dives deeper into the homicide through interviews with her sisters and detectives.
Pamela Cahanes’ Remains Were Found in a Vacant Property in Florida
On August 24, 1958, Louis Felix and Alice Dorothy Cahanes welcomed their daughter, Pamela Jane Cahanes, into their lives. They affectionately called her Pam and always provided her with their immeasurable support. Growing up in a household in Stillwater, Minnesota, she loved spending time with her siblings, Carol Kriegl, Norma Last, Gerald Cahanes, Annette Lindeman, Douglas Cahanes, Eileen Bergmann, and Jean Bourgeois. Pam had always been inspired by her father’s career in the US Army. Determined to walk in his footsteps and serve her country, she joined the US Navy and began basic training at the Orlando Naval Training Center in Florida. In August 1984, Pam completed her training and was soon set to join the service.
Unfortunately, Pamela’s life turned upside down on August 5, 1984. Around 7:25 am, a passerby discovered a woman’s remains in the yard of an empty home in Sanford, Florida. He promptly called 911 to report the situation. When officials rushed to the scene, they found the remains without any clothes except an undergarment. Her clothes, reportedly identified as “seaman whites,” were found scattered nearby with a grease stain on her white pants, likely from a motorcycle. Reports state that forensic experts noted no stab or gunshot wounds. However, they found that she had injuries in her neck area. Detectives further discovered tire tracks near the clothing and reportedly deduced that the homicide happened somewhere else before her remains were disposed of there in an automobile.
Near the scene, authorities found the woman’s Kmart shopping bags, including swim shorts and receipts, indicating she was there around 3:15 pm on August 4. Another restaurant receipt showed she was there around 1:09 am on August 5. In her shirt’s pocket, they discovered her military ID, identifying the remains as Pam’s. According to official reports, the autopsy uncovered that she had a broken nose, contusions to her head and chest, and injuries consistent with defensive wounds on her neck and face. Experts discovered semen from her underwear and a pubic hair on her left shoulder. Forensic analysis indicated that the hair belonged to a Caucasian man. Pam reportedly had a broken hyoid bone, leading to the determination of her cause of death as asphyxiation by strangulation.
A DNA Breakthrough Helped Solve Pamela’s Murder After 35 Years
After the discovery of the August 5 receipt from the restaurant, investigators reportedly narrowed down Pam’s time of death to the early hours of that fateful day. According to official records, after speaking with her fellow recruits, detectives discovered that the 25-year-old and the others had been out celebrating their graduation from the Naval Training Center. Police records state that some witnesses told law enforcement that Pam was last seen dancing with a batchmate, Jamie Bowers. When questioned, he recalled meeting her but insisted he then returned home and stayed there with his roommates, as reported. Unfortunately, due to a lack of evidence, the case eventually grew cold.
Around a decade later, authorities reopened the case and again focused on Jamie. According to reports, he told them he had dropped Pam off at the base where she lived, but emphasized that he knew nothing else. Further reports suggest that his ex-wife claimed that he had called her to give a false alibi. Ultimately, officials obtained his DNA, but it did not match the DNA found at the scene. After Jamie was ruled out as a suspect, the case remained open, but several years passed before a tip came in about a former naval officer, Al Green. According to reports, the tip revealed that Al lived three houses away from Pam’s base. Investigative records indicate that, after a thorough investigation and the discovery of no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Al was also ruled out as a suspect.
A breakthrough came in April 2018, when law enforcement turned to genetic genealogy. It reportedly revealed that the pubic hair that was found on Pam’s remains actually came from an African American man instead of a Caucasian man, unlike the initial report. Advanced DNA technology narrowed the search to a former naval officer, Thomas Lewis Garner, and identified him as the suspect. According to court records, detectives discovered that he was stationed at the same base as Pam in 1984. After obtaining his DNA from his home’s garbage, experts reportedly found it to be a match to the DNA found in Pam’s underwear and under her fingernails. As per records, when questioned, Thomas denied any knowledge or involvement in the case. On March 13, 2019, he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Thomas Garner is Incarcerated at a Florida Correctional Facility Today
Following his arrest, Thomas was booked into the Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Florida, awaiting trial. In May 2021, his jury trial commenced, during which the prosecution presented the forensic evidence before the court. According to court records, they theorized that he had convinced Pam to get into his car on that fateful day before things took a dark turn. The prosecution argued that Thomas then strangled the 25-year-old to death before disposing of her remains. On the other hand, the defense claimed that the sexual encounter between the defendant and Pam might have been consensual. They reportedly insisted that Thomas was not responsible for the murder.
On May 6, 2021, the jury found Thomas guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. Right after, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the proceedings, his DNA was found to be a match to physical evidence in a cold case regarding the murder of 25-year-old Kathy Warnette Hicks in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 19, 1982. In June 2021, Thomas was indicted on the charge of second-degree murder of Kathy. He was then extradited to Hawaii, where his jury trial began in July 2023. Ultimately, the jury found him not guilty of Kathy’s murder, and he was returned to the custody of Florida authorities. Currently, Thomas is serving his sentence at the Madison Correctional Institution in Madison, Florida.
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