On April 8, 1973, 59-year-old Tan Johnson Brown, AKA Brownell Johnson, was found in his 1971 Ford LTD Sedan parked on a dirt road at Christina Park at the south side of Scott Lake, north of SR 540A in Lakeland. He was last seen on April 4, 1973, when he said he was going to the store. His cause of death was severe trauma to the left side of his head and strangulation.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at (863) 298-6379, or send an email to coldcase@polksheriff.org.