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Cantonment Cold Case: 1981 Murder Remains Unsolved
February 22, 2025
It was just over 44 years ago on the afternoon of January 2, 1981, that 9-year-old Kenneth Deshun Underwood and three companions went bird hunting in the woods near their Cantonment home. Everyone returned home that afternoon except for Underwood.
When Underwood was still not home around 6 p.m., Escambia County Search and Rescue personnel were called. The area where Underwood was last seen alive was canvassed. His body was discovered about 5:45 the next morning –apparently murdered — in an area near Booker Street. His cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma.
The case remains unsolved, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help because they believe someone in our area still has information about Underwood’s death.
If you know anything about the death of Kenneth Deshun Underwood, 9, you are asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (850) 436-9580 or Crime Stopper at (850) 433-STOP (7867).
Pictured above: The fourth-grade photo of murder victim Kenneth Deshun Underwood of Cantonment. Pictured below: The highlighted area in this map shows where the body was found. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
8 Responses to “Cantonment Cold Case: 1981 Murder Remains Unsolved”
It’s never too late. There’s more than one cold case in Escambia county. In the Cantonment area in fact. We need someone to re-familiarize our community on these crimes. These families deserve closure. May God Bless them!
My prayers for the guilty to be exposed and justice to be served !
Maybe his friends were/are too scared to talk.
But closure is past needed for the family and community. Hopefully this can be resolved sooner than later.
His companions have to know more than what they were saying. Did the law enforcement officers question them independently? Re-open the case, bring closure for the community after all these years.
Someone needs to go back and talk to the friends.
I was a young teenager when this happened and living just a couple of miles from where he was found. My husband and I passed by a few weeks ago and I told him the story. My condolences still go out to his family. The community has not forgotten about your precious child.
The companions have to know something, its time.
This is the first time hearing this. I do not understand how his ‘companions’ didn’t know about his whereabouts after being together. Very sad.