By Crime Clues Connection
When you hear the name Hollingsworth in Lakeland, your mind may immediately go to Lake Hollingsworth.
But there is another Hollingsworth story in this city that deserves to be remembered.
Ray Hollingsworth has been without answers since 1984.
More than four decades have passed, and his homicide remains unsolved.
That is a long time for a family to live with unanswered questions.
And now I am asking Lakeland and Polk County to help us reach further into Ray’s past.
CORRECTION: I previously shared that Ray attended Lakeland High School. That was incorrect.
Ray graduated from Santa Fe High School in Lakeland in 1976, now known as Santa Fe Catholic High School.
So I am especially asking people connected to the Santa Fe Class of 1976:
Did you know Ray Hollingsworth?
Were you friends with him in school?
Did you stay in touch after graduation?
Did you know him through mutual friends?
Did you spend time with him socially?
Did you know the people Ray was around in the late 1970s or early 1980s?
Were you still in contact with him as an adult?
Were you at the ABC Lounge or familiar with that social circle in 1984?
Did you hear or see something back then that did not seem important at the time?
Maybe you were young.
Maybe you were unsure whether what you remembered mattered.
Maybe something was said years later that stuck with you.
Maybe you have carried a memory for 42 years and never thought it could help.
It still could.
Ray was more than a case file.
He was a son, one of only two sons his parents had.
A brother.
A father to three children.
A husband.
A loving uncle.
A friend.
He had classmates, friendships, relationships and an entire life before his name became attached to an unsolved homicide.
That matters.
Sometimes revisiting an old case means going back further than the night everything happened.
It means finding the classmates.
The friends.
The people who remember who knew whom.
The people who may remember relationships, conversations, places or details investigators never had the chance to hear about.
The February 15, 1984 Lakeland Ledger reported that witnesses said the driver of the 1980 Ford Pinto swerved toward Ray.
That detail still matters.
Someone may remember who was at the ABC Lounge.
Someone may remember who Ray was with.
Someone may remember seeing the Pinto.
Someone may remember who had access to that vehicle.
Someone may remember seeing it afterward.
Someone may remember a conversation days, months or years later.
One small memory could still matter today.
My goal is not to accuse anyone.
It is not to embarrass anyone.
It is not to turn speculation into fact.
My goal is simple:
Find the people who remember Ray.
After 42 years, the person who helps move this case forward may simply be an old classmate, a former friend, or someone who remembers one detail they never thought was important.
Ray’s story still matters.
His family still deserves answers.
And somewhere, someone may still remember something that helps bring clarity to what happened. 
If you attended Santa Fe High School around 1976, or know someone who did, please ask whether they knew Ray.
Even if you know absolutely nothing about his homicide, I still want to hear from people who knew Ray the person and stayed connected to him into adulthood.
If you have information directly related to his homicide, please contact the Lakeland Police Department.
If you are uncomfortable speaking publicly, you can also reach out privately.
You do not have to post anything publicly.
Even something small could matter.
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