Person of interest in 2004 New York murder may be living in Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The sole person of interest connected to the murder of a 25-year-old woman in New York may be living in Tampa Bay, according to the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office.

On Aug. 10, 2004, 25-year-old Yolanda Bindics, a mother of four, was reported missing to a local police department after she did not return home from a shift at a Family Dollar Store in Jamestown.

Two years later, Bindics’ skeletal remains were discovered in the Boutwell Hill State Forest in the Town of Charlotte on Sept. 10, 2006. Her death was determined to be a homicide.

The father of Bindics’ youngest child, Clarence Carl Carte, is a person of interest in her murder.

Since June 2022, 176 interviews have been conducted. Officials said a Jamestown Police Officer, Michael Watson, was an original person of interest but is no longer considered a suspect.

Newly released drone footage and images captured on a security camera shows Carte in the Family Dollar Store around the same time Bindics was finishing her shift. These visuals captured him leaving a Kwik Fill store, located across the street where Bindics’ was working that evening.

Officials believe that Carte may be living in the Crystal River area.

“We are confident that we are so close to having this solved,” Yolanda’s sister, Anne Chmielewski, said in a press conference in New York.

“20 years is long,” Chmielewski added.

Anyone with information about Yolanda Bindics’ murder is asked to call the anonymous tip line at 716-703-5955.

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