Dixie County’s oldest, and one of FDLE’s oldest, unsolved homicide happened 46 years ago this month. The 1974 murder of James Norris, whose body was found in Dixie County, remains an active case with new leads coming into investigators and interviews about the case being conducted.
If you have information about the murder of James Norris, please contact FDLE Tallahassee at (800) 342-0820 or Dixie County Sheriff’s Office at (352) 498-1245 or (352) 498-1231 ext. 0.
Background
On the morning of October 4, 1974, San Francisco resident James Norris arrived by commercial flight in Miami. He was traveling under the alias Richard Gunning. The investigation shows that Norris traveled to Citrus County, Florida, to purchase marijuana from an organization operating in that county. The investigation has uncovered the names of members of that organization.
Norris was carrying a large amount of cash with the intention of purchasing Columbian-grade marijuana that was not at the time available in California. That afternoon, Norris mailed a postcard to his family from Inglis, Florida. That was the last contact his family had with him.
On April 16, 1976, a bulldozer operator cutting through the woods off U.S. Highway 19 in northern Dixie County, near the Taylor County line, came upon skeletal remains.
The body remained unidentified until 2011 when advances in DNA allowed the remains of James Norris to be positively identified.
The Norris family has established a website and Facebook page with more information about their search for what happened to James Norris, www.whokilledjamesnorris.com and https://www.facebook.com/WhoKilledJamesNorris.
