Nearly 53 years after a 19-year-old college student was found dead in a shallow grave, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has closed the case, naming a man who died before he could be charged as the person responsible for her death.

• Debra Espey, described as a quiet, sweet, all-American girl, was reported missing by her father on March 12, 1973, after she failed to return home from classes at the local college in Niceville. Her body was found just over a month later in a shallow grave in the Rocky Bayou area.

Investigators identified Dennis Murphy as a suspect early in the case, and he remained the sole suspect for more than five decades.

A custodian at the college told investigators he observed Espey leaving the school parking lot with Murphy on the day she was reported missing. The witness was able to identify Murphy and describe his vehicle.

Sr. Investigator Kelly Henderson, who worked the case for the Sheriff’s Office, said Espey and Murphy knew each other through school.

• “They were acquaintances. I would say that they were friends but not close friends,” Henderson said. “They kind of hung out with the same group of people.”

Investigators were unable to determine a motive.

The Sheriff’s Office sent evidence collected in 1973 to be re-examined using modern DNA technology, but the samples had degraded due to storage methods that did not meet current standards.

“We didn’t know what we know now about evidence and how to store it, so it wasn’t necessarily stored how we would store it now,” Henderson said. “A lot of that evidence was degraded to where we couldn’t even get the victim’s DNA to come back.”

Despite the limitations of the physical evidence, Henderson said the totality of the case — including interviews conducted in 1973, subsequent interviews by investigators who continued working the case over the years, and interviews Henderson conducted with Murphy, witnesses and family members — pointed to one conclusion.

• “We have no reason to believe that anybody else is responsible other than Dennis Murphy,” Henderson said.

Investigators were preparing to seek an arrest warrant for Murphy when they learned he had died in a traffic crash in Alabama in February 2023. The case was officially closed as “death by offender,” meaning the suspect died before he could be charged and arrested.

Henderson said some earlier investigators had considered whether Murphy might be connected to another homicide that occurred in November 1973, based on the timeframe and the fact that both victims were found in shallow graves. However, Henderson said she has no reason to believe Murphy was responsible for any other crimes.

The Sheriff’s Office continued working the case for more than 50 years in an effort to provide closure for the surviving family, though Henderson noted that many of Espey’s family members died before the case could be resolved.

“On behalf of the Espey family, we are very happy to finally have some closure on a case involving someone we loved so dearly,” said Deborah Espey, the victim’s sister-in-law. “We thank the OCSO for the work they have done and wish to thank all the investigators over the years and everyone who assisted. We stayed committed to updates on the case and are glad this public closure has been made.”