SARASOTA - The 61-year-old woman found dead Wednesday inside her Provenance Gallery in downtown Sarasota was stabbed multiple times and suffered some mutilation, police said Saturday.
The Sarasota Police Department is seeking information in the death of Joyce Wishart. So far, police have chased about 80 leads, interviewed 60 to 70 people and gathered about 350 pieces of evidence, police spokesman Jay Frank said.
Sarasota detectives have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide a profiler to assist with the case, Frank said. This week, police expect at least one profiler to arrive in Sarasota, look over the crime scene and offer ideas about the case.
"We won't tell them anything about our opinions or suspicions," Frank said. "We will let them make their own determination, then put our heads together and see what we have."
The agency has no named suspects and no motive, Frank said. Police has asked everyone to use "everyday common sense" while shopping, walking or working in the area.
Police waited until Saturday to announce that Wishart had been stabbed so they could tell her out-of-town children what happened before they learned it through the media, Frank said.
Initial reports suggested that Wishart was last seen Jan. 17. Now, police think she might have been last seen Jan. 16. They did not give details.
Anyone who saw Wishart Jan. 12-16 is asked to call detectives at (941) 954-7070.
