A Florida milkman by the name of Hiram “Ross” Grayam didn’t return home one night after his rounds. 56 years later, his homicide has been solved, becoming the oldest case closed in Indian River County Sheriff’s Office history.
According to ABC News, H. Grayam was just 47 years old when he died. He was married and a proud father of three. In addition, he was from Vero Beach, Florida and was a recipient of the Purple Heart, a prestigious military award, from his service during World War II.
The exposure of two people who say that the suspect confessed to them helped investigators find the murderer of Grayam. According to the sheriff’s office, Grayam was minding his own business until he was shot on April 11, 1968.
Grayam was last seen talking to two males who then proceeded into his truck, Sheriff Eric Flowers said on April 11 at a news conference on CNN.
One of the witnesses said H. Grayam engaged them in conversation and announced that he would be back shortly,” Flowers added. The very next day, Grayam’s body and truck were found in a wooded area that was described as a “chilling scene,” CNN stated.
The investigation went on and on, but eventually the case went cold. In 2006, one of H. Grayam’s family members requested that the case be reopened. After the media interviewed the victim’s family, the suspected killer, Thomas J. Williams had written a letter to an editor of a local newspaper stating that he had been accused of the killing but said he didn’t have anything to do with it.
Williams ended up dying in 2016, but two people said prior to his death that he had confessed that he was the one that killed Grayam, the sheriff said. The sheriff’s office told CNN that investigators were tipped off in February of 2022 by an inmate in their jail, who told them that Williams had confessed to him.
After receiving the information, detectives tracked down Williams’ ex-wife who told detectives that he had confessed to her as well. “Thomas Williams, we believe is our shooter in this case… but we know there’s another person out there that knows what happened on that day. We know who he is, and we want someone to come forward from the community to give us more information about that,” Flowers said, according to CNN.
The sheriff’s office said the developments in “the milkman homicide” case “stand as beacons of hope for families like the Grayams, ensuring that no victim is forgotten, and no crime is unpunished.”
The victim’s son, Larry Grayam, had a lot of mixed emotions. He was 16 at the time of his father’s death. “It devastated my family as a young kid, and caused me to actually lead a life of public safety and work as a photojournalist as well,” L. Grayam told CNN.
