Postcards related to 2007 homicide case being mailed

Dominique Lewis' last weeks were spent doing the unexpected.

News reports at the time detailed some of her exploits.

She packed up, moved out of her mother's house and lived with her boyfriend at the Bay Breeze Motel in St. Petersburg.

The 19-year-old student had joined an adult telephone dating service and met several new people, detectives said.

The night of Nov. 30, 2007 she and her boyfriend had an argument. She left the room around midnight. It was the last time anyone heard from her.

It was hard for Lewis' friends and family to understand her behavior.

Her death was the biggest mystery of all. Lewis' body was discovered 75 miles north of where she was last seen.

She was found the morning of Dec. 11, 2007 by a CSX employee about 25 feet away from Brooksville Rock Road, which intersects with Citrus Way – a rural highway that runs north and south through Hernando and Citrus counties.

The next day detectives ruled Lewis' death a homicide. They said her body showed obvious signs of trauma and she had been dead for at least 24 hours by the time she was discovered.

The day after Lewis' decomposed body was found, investigators released the victim's identity, which they learned through dental and fingerprint records, according to news reports.

For the most part, detectives have remained tight-lipped about specifics.

"We cannot discuss details of the crime scene or the cause of death as this is an active homicide investigation," said Sgt. Phil Lakin, who supervises the agency's major case unit.

It is a case that still baffles detectives, who announced Wednesday they would be mailing more than 10,200 postcards seeking the public's help to solve the case.

"The postcards will be mailed to the St. Pete area where Dominique lived, frequented and where her vehicle was abandoned," said Cpl. Wendy McGinnis, a spokeswoman with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

Since the investigation began, detectives have focused most of the case on St. Petersburg. That was where she lived her life, attended school and hung with friends.

But the fact her body was found in northern Hernando makes the case all the more perplexing.

The location where her body was dumped is so desolate and specific that it makes people wonder whether her killer had knowledge of the area.

Lewis was a student at Ultimate Medical Academy in Clearwater. Her car was found outside a beauty salon in the 300 block of 34th Street in St. Petersburg. She had no known connection to the area where her body was found.

The sheriff's office remains in contact with family members. Investigators said they have been cooperative during the investigation.

Detectives said in a December 2008 article in Hernando Today that Lewis' boyfriend, Jeremy Grisby, was a person of interest, but no evidence had been found to connect him to the slaying.

He was questioned and arrested back then, but it was for an unrelated rape charge, authorities said. Jail records show him being arrested multiple times. His latest arrest came in August 2010.

He was convicted on burglary charges and is scheduled to be released from prison in April, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website.

Lakin on Wednesday declined to categorize or speak about Grisby or anyone else.

Detectives hope the postcards will add momentum to the investigation. The cards include contact information, a few details about Lewis and the case and a reminder that any information leading to an arrest could result in a cash reward of up to $1,000.

"This is a resource that we are utilizing in an attempt to gather additional information that may be helpful in bringing closure," said Lakin.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call Hernando County Crime Stoppers at (866) 990-TIPS or send an email to www.hernandosheriff.org/tips.