What happened to Tiffany Daniels?

Since I do a lot of recent true crime cases over at the Generation Why podcast Blog, I thought I’d stick with (slightly) older missing and unsolved cases over here at RLIH 

Today I’ve been reading about a girl called Tiffany H. Daniels who went missing from Pensacola, Florida in the summer of 2013 and I thought I’d share it with you guys.

Oh also, before we proceed, I’ve commandeered the equipment necessary for recording audio and was wondering if I should (attempt) to start a podcast or maybe make podcast style videos (with visuals) on my YouTube channel? The channel has been pretty inactive for a while now and never realllllly got started, but would it be something you’d be interested in? Let me know.

Alright, here we go.

Tiffany Daniels was a 25 year old woman from Dallas, Texas who lived, worked and studied in Pensacola, Florida. According to one of Tiffany’s high-school classmates (who made THIS post in r/unresolvedmysteries) the missing young woman completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Pensacola High School. She then went on to work at the Pensacola State College as a state technician, painting the sets for various productions.

(source)

Missing: 

On the 11^th of August, 2011, Tiffany H. Daniels went to meet her boyfriend for breakfast. It was a slightly somber occasion as the young man was relocating to Austin to study robotics at the University of Texas. Although understandably down at the prospect of a long distance relationship, Daniels had high spirits about the idea of visiting her boyfriend in Austin. He had originally invited her to move there with him, but despite her love for adventure, she declined in favor of staying put in Florida.

In various reports online her family and friends describe her as “free-spirited”, “an artist”, “friendly” and “creative”. Tiffany was very sociable, positive and charismatic. She regularly hosted well-attended local events such as swing blues dance nights and everyone who came into contact with her seemed to love her. 

After reading several articles about the case I get the feeling that she was one of those kind-hearted, hippie girls who just liked being around nature, hiking and appreciating the surroundings a picturesque place like Pensacola has to offer. It seems as though she just liked to be around people she could vibe with and put on events to attract kindred spirits and enjoy life.

The next day, on the 12^th, Tiffany clocked out of work at 4:43 in the afternoon- earlier than she usually left work, but she had been granted permission to do so after asking earlier in the day. On her way out of work she informed her supervisor that she wouldn’t back for several days but neglected to give a reason for her absence.  

All I can find online regarding an excuse for her time off was that she "had things to take care of."

According to the Charley project page for her case she was last seen at 5pm in the university car park. I assume she was getting into her car, which is described as a Toyota 4Runner in the color gray with the registration number ECBOR. 

From there she is thought to have driven home to the place she shared with her roommate.

Apparently she briefly returned home but quickly left. Her roommate was there at the time, however he said he in his room having a phone call with his girlfriend and did not see Tiffany, only heard what he believed to be her returning home quickly.

The Roommate: 

Now Tiffany met her roommate on Craigslist after placing an advert there. 

I know several of you most likely cringed reading that, considering the craigslist horror stories out there, but the man who responded, although more than double her age, turned out to be the father of one of her friends. 

His name was Gary Nichols and he was 54 years old. It sounds strange on paper, but the two did seem to have a lot of things in common (such as meat-free diets and various pastimes etc.) and they seemed to be good friends, plus, he was old enough and responsible enough to pay the rent on time, something Tiffany’s previous roommates had neglected to do, which had left her with financial issues.

The night before Tiffany disappeared, she and Nichols had watched “Monty Python and the Holy grail” in preparation for the production she had been working on, “Spamalot”, which was set to open the following night. Nichols claimed that they both retired to their respective rooms for the night when the film was over in order to be refreshed for work the next day.

The following morning, the 54 year old noticed something off about his roommate’s routine- Tiffany had gotten up very early (for her) at around 5am, which he says, was very unlike her. He claims he heard what he believed to be Daniels getting up and opening and closing the door repeatedly but didn’t see her, despite getting out of bed to have a look. Although unusual, he shrugged it off and went back to sleep, leaving later at his usual time of 7AM. On his way out he noticed that Tiffany’s car wasn’t parked outside and assumed that she’d just left early to work.   

Apparently she arrived at work on time. What time was that exactly?

Does that mean there were a couple of hours where she was off doing something else? If so, what was she doing exactly?

When Tiffany didn’t go home that night, Gary Nichols went into dad-mode and called his daughter asking what he should do. His daughter assured him that Tiffany was likely fine and probably just off hanging out with other friends, which is a fine assumption to make considering how sociable she was.

The fact that Nichols worried about her not coming back, and the fact that her family was unaware of any upcoming road trips, makes me think that the Pensacola State College was the only place that Daniels informed she was leaving.

Why would she inform her place of work, but not her roommate, family or friends?

Gary Nichols called Tiffany’s phone several times over the following day and night, and eventually convinced his daughter to send a Facebook message to Tiffany’s parents. 

The remainder of the week was spent contacting a long list of the missing woman’s friends, before eventually hitting a dead end and calling the local police to officially report her missing.

People of interest:

Tiffany’s boyfriend was one of the first persons of interest in the case, but he was found to have been in Austin at the time of her disappearance, just like he said he was.

Roommate Gary Nichols had expressed concern instantly at the disappearance and since there was no signs of foul play back at the house they shared, he was never really considered a suspect by investigators.

The car:

Just over a week after the young woman had been missing, a family friend who had been jogging in the area stumbled upon Tiffany Daniels car in a parking lot in park west, which Google maps informs us non-locals is a public beach on Fort Pickens Rd, Pensacola Beach, Florida.

Her phone, bag, wallet and bike were all found still inside of the vehicle, as well as a few articles of clothing, water and a jar of peanut butter. Two finger prints (one on the wheel and one of the door handle) were found by police, they did not match Tiffany’s prints.

There was sand on the bicycle tires but not on the car tires.

The only way to get to the beach is by crossing over Bob Sikes Fishing Pier, so naturally police checked the CCTV cameras and discovered that the car had crossed over the bridge to the island at exactly 7:51PM on the night that Tiffany went missing. 

The footage was not clear enough to determine if Tiffany was the driver or not. When police asked locals for information they were informed that the vehicle had not been parked there for the entire several days that Tiffany had been missing. According to several witnesses who lived in an apartment overlooking the car park the car had been parked there no more than two days before it was discovered by the Daniel family’s friend. Some witnesses even said they saw a man climb out of the vehicle and that it was parked in a disorganized way. 

Two years later another witness would contact the police to inform them that on the day Tiffany’s car was found parked at the beach they saw a shirtless man clad in red shorts opening the trunk of the vehicle. They described him as being white and between the age of 30-40. . Apparently this matches up with the description/ statement provided by the residents of the apartment block.

Sightings: 

Many tips and sightings poured in to the Facebook page set up by Tiffany’s family, however nothing came of the alleged sightings. One sighting, however, stands out from the others.

A waitress at a restaurant in Metairie, Louisiana, recounted a strange table she had waited one night in January of 2014. She claimed that a well-dressed, older Latina woman sat down at a table with two younger women, one of which, she claimed, looked just like Tiffany Daniels, whom she had remembered from news reports. She said the girl enquired about the broth used in one of the dishes she was considering ordering, asking if the stock was chicken or fish based. Tiffany was a pescatarian. When the waitress pointed out she looked like a missing girl named Tiffany Daniels, the three left.

Tiffany H. Daniels has not been found.

What do you think happened?