Remains in woods identified as missing woman's

Police suspect foul play in 43-year-old's death

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Human remains found in a wooded area in Northwest Jacksonville last week are those of a 43-year-old woman missing since last month.

Police said they suspect foul play in the death of Sherry Prather.

Prather was last seen Oct. 12 outside the Boots and Bottle Tavern in the 12400 block of New Berlin Road on the Northside, according to police. The bar is less than 200 feet from Prather's home.

Police said she was seen talking with two men sitting on motorcycles about 2:20 a.m. Her family said she never made it home.

Prather was reported missing three days later by her family.

A missing persons detective acting on a tip found the remains in the 12600 block of Braddock Road last Wednesday in an area about 15 miles west of where Prather was last seen.

"It's just horrible to imagine what she went through. It was like a nightmare for me every night," said Daniel Dollison, who dated and lived with Prather for the last three years.

Dollison said he'd been spending the last month, like everyone who loved and cared for Prather, wondering what happened to his girlfriend.

"When all this first started, I prayed to God, I said, 'Please, Lord, just bring her home,' you know?" he said. "I wanted to believe she'd come home and walk through the door."

As Dollison found out the woman he wanted to marry was dead and no longer missing, he was devastated.

"I held hope right up to this morning," he said. "I mean, I'd heard about this, but I thought, 'No, it wasn't her, it wasn't her.' But something deep down inside of me knew it was."

Even though Dollison's days of of waiting for Prather to come home are over, he's now waiting for something else -- the day her killer will be brought to justice.

"No closure until I know what happened, until they catch him or whoever," he said. "There won't be no closure for me until I see him fry in the electric chair."

Anyone with any information about Prather's death is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.