**Florida has carried out the execution of 74-year-old Dennis Sochor, making him the oldest inmate ever put to death in the state’s history. The execution closes one of Florida’s longest-running murder cases, stemming from the 1982 killing of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford, whose body has never been recovered.**
Prosecutors said Gifford disappeared on **New Year’s Day in 1982** after rejecting Sochor’s unwanted sexual advances. According to investigators, Sochor kidnapped the teenager, strangled her to death, and later disposed of her body in an unknown location. Despite extensive searches over the decades, Gifford’s remains were never found, leaving her family without the opportunity to lay her to rest.
The case remained unsolved for several years until **1986**, when Sochor was arrested on unrelated charges outside Florida. After being extradited to the state, authorities said he confessed to abducting and choking Gifford before disposing of her body. His confession, along with other evidence presented during the investigation, ultimately led to his conviction and death sentence.
Following decades of appeals through the state and federal court systems, Sochor’s execution moved forward after his final legal challenges were denied. He was executed at **Florida State Prison in Bradford County** using the state’s three-drug lethal injection protocol.
With the execution, Sochor became the **oldest prisoner ever executed in Florida**, marking the end of a case that spanned more than four decades. Although the sentence has now been carried out, one of the case’s most enduring mysteries remains unresolved: the location of Patricia Gifford’s body. Her remains have never been found, leaving a lasting source of grief for her loved ones even as the legal proceedings have come to a close.
