Anyone who’s paid any attention to the Seminole Heights murders is familiar with the surveillance video of the suspect. 

  • Man who provided Seminole Heights video not thanked
  • Patrick Holladay says a thank you letter would have been nice
  • He says video was key to finding the murder suspect

For weeks, the images of a tall thin shadowy figure walking to and running from the crime scenes was the most the public had to go on in finding the person behind the killings of four people.

That video belonged to Patrick Holladay and he says, as of yet, no one has so much as thanked him for it--not to mention offered up any reward money.

“It would have been nice to get a little piece of that pie.” Hollady said. “Wasn’t expecting it, but you know a thank you or a letter from the mayor or anything like that would beat the heck out of what we got.”

He said the video played a key part in eventually finding, arresting and charging accused serial killer Howell “Trai” Donaldson with the murders.  But Mayor Bob Buckhorn said there are many people to thank.

“Obviously we're grateful to everybody," Buckhorn said. “There were a lot of people involved in this for the 51 days we were out there."

But he said only one person truly stands out amongst them.

“There were people that were giving us tips," Buckhorn said. “There were people that were helping us. There were people providing video, but ultimately we would not have solved this case has it not been for the courage of the woman at the McDonald's.” 

However, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan says there will be a time set aside to thank everyone in the near future.

“Once we get through the holidays we're going to bring everybody in a more formal setting and give them a personal  thank you," Dugan said. "Because even though thank yous not enough, it is amazing to see what people have done.”