An Affair With the Nanny Led to Murder
Donna’s missing
Roger Harris reported is thirty-year-old wife, and mother of two, Donna, was missing in December 1998. According to Harris, his wife had left to return a gift to Walmart and hadn’t returned. Harris, his wife, and their two sons lived in rural Lake City, Florida.
Donna’s family was shocked when they heard the news. Donna was raised on a farm helping her parents with chores and taking care of her younger siblings. She’d always been dependable, responsible, and devoted to her young two sons. It wasn’t like her to just disappear.
The van
Three days later the police received a call about an abandoned van at a truck stop. When they responded, they realized it was the missing woman’s van. There was no mistaking the smell emanating from the vehicle. They knew immediately there was a body inside, called the techs, and roped off the area as a crime scene.
Inside the van, they found Donna’s decomposing body. She had been shot in the back of the head and lay between the seats. Some unusual tools, including a nail gun, were found in the van. Donna was pregnant with the couple’s third child at the time of her death.
The van had been locked and there was no evidence of a burglary.
A sad ending to a marriage
Roger had been in the Air Force when they met. Donna was a twenty-year-old girl working for a local family. It was through them that she met Roger. Their romance escalated quickly and they were married in 1989. They had their first son in 1992, and their second son in 1994. Donna was a devoted mother and was a full-time mom when the boys were toddlers.
Harris retired from the Air Force the couple moved to rural Columbia County, Florida. When her youngest son was old enough to go to school, Donna decided to get her nursing degree. Roger, at first a stay-at-home dad, soon became bored and got a job at Walmart. He was quickly promoted to district manager. It seemed to everyone that the Harrises were happy. But in reality, their new life in Florida was not turning out as either envisioned. Donna loved being a nurse and became…
