The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

IT’S BEEN 11 years since Gary Karp’s teenage daughter was found stuffed in a garbage bag and dumped in a canal in Florida, but Mr Karp says he will not rest until her killer is behind bars.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of 17-year-old Marissa Karp’s death and Mr Karp, like he does every year, is once again asking for the public’s help in solving her murder.

A billboard has been erected in Broward County, Florida, asking for information concerning the murder of the teenage girl – whose killer is believed to have a Bahamas connection.

The digital billboard, located along I-95 and Pembroke Road, was donated by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and carries the message: “Who Murdered Marissa Karp?”

Mr Karp is also offering a $14,500 reward for any who is willing to come forward with information.

Over the past ten years, multiple law enforcement agencies have been comparing leads, talking to witnesses and dealing with extradition hurdles in their hunt to solve the murder. In 2012, their investigation extended to the Bahamas, where they say a person of interest lived.

Authorities were hoping to question 38-year-old Almanto Coakley, Marissa’s former live-in boyfriend about her killing.

Coakley was also one of two fugitives facing first-degree murder charges in a Sunrise, Florida shooting that left two men dead and one paralysed the same year that Karp was slain.

However, before police could confirm his location in the Bahamas, he was shot and killed in April off Johnson Road in Nassau.

Mr Karp said while Coakley’s death hindered the investigation it did not stop it and he believes another man residing in the Bahamas is also connected to his daughters death.

But in an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Karp accused the Royal Bahamas Police Force of “covering up” information that may be the key to unlock the investigation.

“After Coakley’s death my wife and I came to the Bahamas, we wanted to see the crime scene and talk to police and also members of the public and hand out flyers.

“We contacted the police here and they agreed for us to come, in fact they picked us up from the airport but then they would not let us do what we came to do,” he said.

“They would not allow me to hand out flyers, they knew I was coming, why would you allow me to come and then stop me? You knew what I was coming for.

“I do not know what they have to hide but it is obviously something. I even went to the Bahamian Embassy in Florida and they would not help me. There is obviously something going on.

“I don’t want to say it’s a cover up, but that seems to be exactly what it is.”

Mr Karp said he will continue to talk about his daughter’s death and will continue to push until he find her finds her killer – no matter what hurdles stand in his way.

Anyone with information on Marissa’s murder can contact Broward County Police anonymously on 328-TIPS.

Gary Karp can be reached on 954-805-8889, at marissasfather@gmail.com or at www.facebook.com/

whokilledmarissakarp.

Royal Bahamas Police Force Officals declined to comment on the matter when contacted.