The 12-year Old Case of Alana Gwinner is Never Cold to Frank Smith

What happened to the 23- year old Alana Gwinner? Laney was an accounting student at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. On the night of Tuesday December 9, 1997 she was celebrating an A on an exam and a promotion at work. The celebration was at a bowling alley not too far from school. After midnight she left the bowling alley and was headed to her boyfriend's house which was only a couple of miles away. She never got there. It sounds like an episode of Cold Case but unfortunately it isn't.

When she didn't get to the house her relatives and her boyfriend went to the bowling alley to look for Laney but didn't find her or the car she was driving. The next day she didn't show up for work and was officially a missing person. Her car, a black 1993 Honda Civic CRX Del Sol, was put in the databank for missing vehicles. This means that the the police were looking for Laney and a kidnapper. The car was crucial. Since it was gone the assumption was that where the car was found the crime scene was started.

The police gave about 100 lie detecter tests talking with hundreds of people. Everyone passed the test. I know from all the detective shows I love that if you don't find someone in the first 24 hours it isn't good but after 72 and still no Laney it becomes bad.

In Kentucky a month later over 60 miles from the bowling alley a police officer was making an arrest that had nothing to do with Laney. A fight erupted and he fell into the Ohio River and died. While looking for the officer in the water someone on a tugboat saw something floating on the water. It was Laney who was in good condition and fully clothed. This was a homicide though she wasn't raped and nothing was taken from her. Perhaps the assailant tried to rape her and she fought so hard he killed her.

The car has not been found but it is believed that wherever it is the killer will be found. This case is cold but not closed. Specialist Frank Smith a 34-year law enforcement veteran has never given up and still is not.

The specific case file says the following "23 year old Alana "Laney" Gwinner was playing pool with her friends at the Gilmore Lanes on Dixie Highway-Ohio 4, in Fairfield, Ohio on December 10, 1997. At approx 12:30-1:00 AM, Alana left Gilmore Lanes to go see her boyfriend in her 1993 black Honda Civic del Sol. Alana never arrived at her boyfriends house. On January 11, 1998 Alana's body was found near Sugar Bay in Warsaw, Kentucky which is approx 65 miles from Fairfield, OH. Law enforcement feels that Alana's body was placed in the Great Miami River about 40 miles from where she was found. Although authorities have not revealed the manner of death, Alana's autopsy showed that her death was a homicide. Alana's 1993 Honda Civic has not been found. The Ohio license plate number is AKP-3607." http://www.unsolved-crimes.com/gwinner.html

Anyone with information please call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040 or Detective Frank Smith at 513-785-1236.

Sources

CNN
HuffingtonPost
Unsolvedcrimes