Missing 'Thundercats' Writer Stephen J. Perry Was Likely Killed, Cops Say

(May 27) -- More than two weeks after Stephen J. Perry went missing from his Florida home, police say they now believe the writer of the popular 1980s animated show "Thundercats" has met with foul play.

"[We are] now investigating the disappearance ... as an apparent homicide," Capt. Rob McKinney of the Zephyrhills Police Department said. "Laboratory results on evidence are still pending at this time."

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Stephen J. Perry was best known as a writer for the animated TV shows "Thundercats" and "SilverHawks," but he also penned several comics.

The investigation began May 16, when police received a report of a foul-smelling van that had been parked at a Tampa motel for several days. When investigators arrived on the scene, they found a severed human body part lying near the van. A check of the vehicle's registration showed that it belonged to Perry, a 56-year-old resident of Zephyrhills.

When investigators went to Perry's Eighth Avenue home, they discovered it had been ransacked. Moreover, Perry and his roommates -- James "Jimmy" Davis, 45, and his wife, Roxanne Davis, 49 -- were nowhere to be found. Perry's neighbors told police they last saw him on May 9.

Later that day, authorities found additional evidence inside a Dumpster at a gas station roughly two miles from Perry's house. While initial media reports suggested the discovery of more human remains, police have not commented on what they found.

The Davises' whereabouts remained a mystery until May 21, when police located them in Dade City. James Davis was arrested on drug charges, and his wife was charged with a probation violation. Both are being held at the Pasco County jail.

Neither has been charged in connection with Perry's disappearance, but McKinney has described them as people of interest in the case, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

According to PopWatch, Perry is best known for writing the 1980s TV shows "Thundercats" and "SilverHawks." He also penned several comics over the years, including "Timespirits," a limited-run series published by Marvel Comics.

Despite his successes, Perry fell on hard times after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. Writing in an October Internet posting, he said, "We are very, very destitute ... hungry, eating at churches once a day, can't put gas in the car."

Not long after that, the Los Angeles-based charity Hero Initiative, an organization supported in part by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee, stepped in and helped Perry.

"Things looked so bleak a year ago, and now I'm back on my feet, at least for now," Perry said in a March 12 interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

Despite the renewed sense of hope, Perry received news from his doctors in April that his cancer was terminal. He was given two years to live.

"I think what hurt him the most was knowing that he was going to die," Krystal Carroll, the 26-year-old mother of Perry's 5-year-old son, Leo, told Tampa Bay Online today. "He wanted to hang on to whatever he had and love it: Leo."