Polk County, FL (TCD) — Officials recently identified a 1972 cold case murder victim and two suspects in his death, both now deceased.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a field near the canal on May 17, 1972, after a fisherman discovered what appeared to be a body. The sheriff's office said the victim was a white male in his 40s or 50s who appeared to be in advanced stages of decomposition.
Investigators found no identifying features or items on the body, but believe he was shot twice in the head. According to Othram, authorities found a light-colored shirt, dark blue pants and leather shoes nearby.
Investigators found no leads or witnesses and the case was closed. The unidentified victim was reportedly buried in a local cemetery.
Charles Williams, an inmate at the Florida State Prison, contacted Polk County investigators in January 1974, according to the sheriff's office. Williams said he was at Rayford Prison when Clarence Ingram and Edgar Todd said they met the victim at a bar. It is believed to have been left in the victim's vehicle in Winter Haven, Florida.
Ingram and Todd told Williams they had been arguing, and Todd shot the victim twice in the head. The sheriff's office said Ingram and Todd dumped the body near a canal before removing the wallet and ring. They reportedly left him there “for the turtles to eat him.”
Todd and Ingram told Williams that they sold the victim's vehicle in Michigan for $500 and that it had Georgia license plates. The two reportedly also sold the victim's tools.
Despite this information, the case remained unsolved.
In February 2017, the sheriff's office said officials exhumed the victim's body and extracted DNA. They entered the information into the national CODIS database, but there were no matches. Then, in November 2023, investigators submitted part of the victim's femur bone to Othram Inc. to perform forensic genetic genealogy. As a result, in April 2024, Othram reportedly identified the victim as Mack Proctor.
The sheriff's office contacted Proctor's son, Wright Proctor, in Georgia. According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, his son did not know much about his father, but said he drank heavily, worked as a mechanic and moved often. Mack Proctor was last seen by relatives in Georgia between 1969 and 1972, but was never reported missing.
Investigators compared Wright Proctor's DNA to the victim's DNA and found a match.
According to the sheriff's office, all suspects are dead. Todd died in 2015, and Ingram died in 1995. Ingram's brother, who reportedly purchased some of the victim's tools, died in 2003.
Upon further investigation, Ingram reportedly received a traffic ticket in Michigan eight days after Proctor's body was discovered. Ingram was also convicted of murder in a separate case in Lake County in 1973.
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