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Open caseUnsolved murder

Dawn Petterson: Linked by a Bullet

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Status
Open case
Case type
Unsolved murder
Person involved
Dawn Petterson
Location
Palm Coast, FloridaFlagler County
Date
Investigating agency
Flagler County Sheriff's Office
Case number
99-22207FCSO cold case
Last checked

The story

In short: An open murder case involving Dawn Petterson from Palm Coast, Florida, September 8, 1999. Flagler County Sheriff's Office is the investigating agency (case no. 99-22207). Tips: Flagler County Sheriff's Office, 386-313-4911.

Our summary of the public record. The small numbers show where each fact comes from. Tap one to see the source.

On Sept. 8, 1999, Dawn Petterson was found on the west side of what is now Squash Blossom Trail at Seminole Woods Boulevard in Palm Coast. Investigators said she had been shot in the back of the head. Like Andrea Ford, she was from the Daytona Beach area.

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office says further investigation tied her murder to the October 1997 killing of Andrea Ford, who was found shot beside State Road 100 in Bunnell. FCSO says the same gun was used in both cases. Both remain unsolved.

Both killings were among the first cases reopened when the Sheriff's Office created its Cold Case Unit in 2020, and biological evidence was evaluated for modern DNA testing. On the 25th anniversary in 2024, detectives renewed their call for anyone with information to come forward.

Timeline

What happened, in order.

  1. Andrea Ford is found shot beside SR 100 near CR 302 in Bunnell.2

  2. Dawn Petterson is found shot on the west side of what is now Squash Blossom Trail at Seminole Woods Boulevard in Palm Coast.14

  3. FCSO's new Cold Case Unit reopens the Ford and Petterson cases; biological evidence is evaluated for new DNA analysis.3

  4. On the 25th anniversary, FCSO detectives renew their appeal for information.4

  5. The Florida Sheriffs Association's Cold Case Florida podcast features both cases.6

  6. Still listed by FCSO as an unsolved homicide.18

Key facts

What is known for sure. Each one is checked against a source.

  • She was found Sept. 8, 1999, in Palm Coast with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.14
  • FCSO says her murder is linked to the 1997 murder of Andrea Ford (FCSO case #97-25596): the same gun was used in both.12
  • She was from the Daytona Beach area.45
  • Evidence from both cases was evaluated for DNA testing that did not exist in the 1990s.3

Still unanswered

What nobody knows yet.

  1. Who was Dawn Petterson with in the days before Sept. 8, 1999, and how did she get from the Daytona Beach area to Palm Coast?
  2. What happened to the gun that FCSO says was used in both the Ford and Petterson killings?
  3. Did anyone know both women?

Photos & video

Official releases, public-domain and openly licensed files, credited. Tap a photo to see it larger.

View larger photo: Dawn Petterson, as pictured on the FCSO cold case file
Dawn Petterson, as pictured on the FCSO cold case filePhoto released by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office on its cold case page · Official release
View larger photo: FCSO Cold Case Unit case card for Dawn Petterson (case #99-22207)
FCSO Cold Case Unit case card for Dawn Petterson (case #99-22207)Flagler County Sheriff's Office · Official release

Outside coverage and documents

Linked, not copied. These open on the publisher's site.

Sources

Everything on this page comes from these 10 public sources. News coverage is linked, never copied.

Official records

  1. 11999 Petterson (Cold Case #99-22207)Flagler County Sheriff's Office, October 7, 2026
  2. 21997 Ford (Cold Case #97-25596)Flagler County Sheriff's Office, October 7, 2026
  3. 3News Release #192: FCSO Launches Cold Case Unit to Reexamine Unsolved Crimes (archived copy)Flagler County Sheriff's Office, October 12, 2020
  4. 6Cold Case Florida podcast, Episode 3: The Murders of Andrea Ford and Dawn PettersonFlorida Sheriffs Association, December 4, 2024
  5. 8Cold Case Unit (unsolved cases index)Flagler County Sheriff's Office, October 7, 2026
  6. 9Submit a Crime TipFlagler County Sheriff's Office, October 7, 2026
  7. 10Crime Tips (Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida, 1-888-277-TIPS, westopcrime.com)Volusia Sheriff's Office

News coverage

  1. 425 years later, Flagler County detectives hope for breakthrough in unsolved murder of Daytona Beach womanNews4Jax, September 8, 2024
  2. 5UNSOLVED: Two women, killed two years apart with the same gunFirst Coast News, February 2024
  3. 7The Cold Cases of Flagler County: A Look at the Unsolved CrimesAskFlagler, May 7, 2026

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