A Florida man has been taken into custody and charged with murder following the 2024 disappearance of a 24-year-old woman, authorities announced last week.
Ronald Chester Racki, a 75-year-old used car dealer, was apprehended by Venice Police on Friday. He faces charges of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Laikyn Marie West, who vanished after being last seen on September 13, 2024.
The alarm was raised by West’s roommate, who reported her missing three days after her disappearance, according to a report by the Herald-Tribune.
“After extensive and meticulous investigative efforts, the evidence in this case has led to this arrest and charge,” stated Venice Police Chief Andy Leisenring. “We are dedicated to seeking justice for Laikyn West and providing her family with the answers they deserve.”
Investigators have revealed that phone records indicate communication between Racki and West on the day she disappeared. It is alleged that Racki had agreed to meet West for a transactional encounter and picked her up from her Bradenton residence to head to Venice for lunch.
However, Racki claims that West requested a stop to purchase drugs, a request he says he denied, before allegedly dropping her back in Bradenton.
But no witnesses corroborated that statement, and license plate readers didn’t pick up any vehicle registered to Racki in the area.
Racki met with detectives on December 14, 2024, after they had found an entry in West’s journal saying that a man had paied her $950 to allow him to chloroform her during sex. He told the detectives that he had fantasized about it but “never really chloroformed her,” although he said he had chloroform that he used to clean car seats. He also denied paying West $950.
He suggested that West may have overdosed or perhaps had a medical condition.
On December 20, investigators executed a search warrant on Racki’s phone and found photographs of west lying naked and bound with zip ties and handcuffs. One of the photos was taken on September 13, 2024, the day she was last seen.
Racki’s phone also contained searches for violent pornography and “snuff” content. On the same day, the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office responded to a an attempted suicide by Racki. He was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he stayed until January 1.
While he was in the hospital, he reportedly told a nurse he’d killed four weomen, but investigators say they found no evidence that any victims other than West exist.
In April last year, a car detailer told investigators that he had deep cleaned a pickup truck for Racki around September 2024 and saw a stain on the rear floor but he had no paper records of the cleaning.
West’s body has not been found.
Racki is being held in the Sarasota County Jail without bond.
