The Case of Peter Siems

Peter Siems, a 65-year-old retired merchant seaman, disappeared after leaving his Jupiter, Florida home on 7 June 1990. His abandoned car was discovered following a crash near Orange Springs the following month, with witnesses describing Aileen Wuornos and Tyria Moore fleeing the vehicle. Wuornos later confessed to killing Siems, whose body has never been recovered.

Peter Abraham Siems was a 65-year-old retired merchant seaman who devoted much of his time to Christian missionary and outreach work. On 7 June 1990, Siems left his home in Jupiter, Florida, for a planned road trip. He intended to visit his mother in West Milford, New Jersey, possibly visit his son in Arkansas and later meet members of his missionary group in Fort Payne, Alabama. Siems never arrived at any of those destinations and was never heard from again. His disappearance was reported to police later that month. Investigators would eventually connect his disappearance to Aileen Wuornos, who was then travelling around Florida with her girlfriend, Tyria Moore. Wuornos later admitted killing Siems and taking his vehicle. Unlike Wuornos's other six known victims, however, Siems's remains were never discovered. With no body or identifiable murder scene, authorities were unable to establish through forensic evidence precisely where or how he died.

No confirmed location where Peter Siems was killed has ever been identified, and his body has never been recovered. The most important physical evidence came from Siems's vehicle, a grey 1988 Pontiac Sunbird. On 4 July 1990, the vehicle was discovered wrecked and abandoned near Orange Springs, Florida. Witnesses had seen two women leaving the vehicle following the crash and provided descriptions to investigators. Police examination of the vehicle produced a crucial piece of evidence: a palm print recovered from an interior door handle was subsequently identified as belonging to Aileen Wuornos. The abandoned car would prove to be one of the most important developments in the wider investigation into the series of killings.

The Jupiter Police Department had been investigating Siems's disappearance when his vehicle was located at Orange Springs. Witnesses to the crash described two women associated with the car, allowing police to produce composite sketches. Those descriptions would later help investigators identify Aileen Wuornos and Tyria Moore. The palm print recovered from the vehicle provided a physical connection between Wuornos and Siems. As investigators compared Siems's disappearance with a growing number of murdered male motorists across Florida, evidence began linking Wuornos to several victims. Property belonging to some of the men had been pawned, and records and fingerprints from those transactions provided additional evidence. Wuornos was arrested in January 1991. Tyria Moore subsequently cooperated with investigators and participated in recorded telephone conversations with Wuornos. Wuornos ultimately confessed to killing seven men, including Peter Siems.

Peter Siems is recognised as one of Aileen Wuornos's seven known victims, although his case differed significantly from the other six. Because Siems's body was never recovered, prosecutors did not charge Wuornos with his murder. There was therefore no conviction or death sentence specifically relating to his disappearance. Wuornos nevertheless confessed to killing Siems, and the circumstantial evidence included her possession of his vehicle, witness accounts placing her and Moore with the car, and the palm print recovered from inside it. Wuornos was ultimately convicted or entered pleas in connection with six other murders and received six death sentences. She was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on 9 October 2002.