Today State Attorney Amira Fox announced the arrest of Terry McDonald for the murder of
Mary Mount. Mary was last seen in Lee County in 2004 when she was 28 years old.
The newly formed State Attorney’s Office Cold Case Homicide Division was asked by State
Attorney Fox to help bring resolution to Mary’s case. The team has been working diligently with
the accumulated evidence and recently traveled to Arizona and then to Texas where McDonald is
incarcerated for another crime. The team was able to obtain new evidence culminating in an
arrest in partnership with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. This new evidence allowed the State
Attorney’s Office to move forward on this case, charging the defendant with murder.
State Attorney Fox would like to thank Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, Lee County
Sheriff’s Office Captain John Long, Assistant State Attorneys Dan Feinberg and Stephanie
Russell and State Attorney’s Office Investigators Jennifer Griffith and Steve Scalici for their
dedication to this case.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work and many long hours put into this case by the Cold Case
Homicide Division and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office allowing us to charge McDonald with
the murder of Mary. This is a case we have never given up on,” said State Attorney Fox.
Assistant State Attorney Dan Feinberg of our Homicide Unit and Lee County Court Chief
Stephanie Russell are handling the prosecution of McDonald.
The Cold Case Homicide Division was formed by State Attorney Fox when she took office in
January 2019. It was made possible by our local legislative delegation and our Governor who
provided the funding for this division. The division is made up of ASA Feinberg and State
Attorney’s Office Investigators Jennifer Griffith and Steve Scalici. All three have decades of
experience in law enforcement and prosecution and were specifically chosen by the State
Attorney to help solve these cold cases. The Cold Case Homicide Division will continue to
review cases and work to develop new leads to help bring resolution to other families throughout
Southwest Florida.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
ssyoen@sao20.org
239-533-1125