In 1991, I decided to give Investigations a try. My second case was a missing 17 y/o female that would walk the tracks across the street from her home to the school each day and then reverse the walk after school. We got a call at about 6 pm that day from a frantic mom that her daughter never made it to school that day. We asked all the usual questions like did she ever skip school before and so on. The mom told us she never missed a day of school, ever.
We walked the track about 4 times and didn’t find anything, so we brought the dog out and gave it a sniff of her perfume and her pocketbook that was lying in the closet and not being used that day. This gives the dog a few different smells to seek. When it got dark, the Sergeant called off the search, but I stayed behind and decided to give the track 1 more walk by myself.
I walked about a third of the way to the school when I saw a shiny object that caught my eye. When I turned on my flashlight and pointed it down at the shiny object, I saw a pile of debris that looked like it was piled over something. When I started clearing it away, an arm and hand appeared. I knew I found a body. The smell also gave it away.
I called for CSI snd the lead Investigator to return to the site. As it turned out, it was the missing girl. It took about 3 weeks to finish the investigation and take in our killer. An old boyfriend that was obsessed with her and couldn’t or didn’t want to let her go. Long story short, he pled guilty and was sentenced to life. In PA life is life. There is no parole. He just used his last appeal and the sentence had been upheld. He will die in prison. He was 18 at the time of the murder, so he could not appeal on age grounds.
I received a commendation for that arrest, but the family’s thanks meant more to me than the commendation meant. They were very thankful for the job we did, the arrest and the conviction. My Sergeant gave me all the credit, but I refused to accept it. I accepted the commendation on part of the whole department. It was a team effort. My Sergeant taught me a lot and it was because of him that I stuck to it and did that late walk on that night. He told me to “Never give up.” And that’s what I remembered my whole career. Had it not been for the light along the track that shined on her glass buttons, I would never had seen her.
We walked the track about 4 times and didn’t find anything, so we brought the dog out and gave it a sniff of her perfume and her pocketbook that was lying in the closet and not being used that day. This gives the dog a few different smells to seek. When it got dark, the Sergeant called off the search, but I stayed behind and decided to give the track 1 more walk by myself.
I walked about a third of the way to the school when I saw a shiny object that caught my eye. When I turned on my flashlight and pointed it down at the shiny object, I saw a pile of debris that looked like it was piled over something. When I started clearing it away, an arm and hand appeared. I knew I found a body. The smell also gave it away.
I called for CSI snd the lead Investigator to return to the site. As it turned out, it was the missing girl. It took about 3 weeks to finish the investigation and take in our killer. An old boyfriend that was obsessed with her and couldn’t or didn’t want to let her go. Long story short, he pled guilty and was sentenced to life. In PA life is life. There is no parole. He just used his last appeal and the sentence had been upheld. He will die in prison. He was 18 at the time of the murder, so he could not appeal on age grounds.
I received a commendation for that arrest, but the family’s thanks meant more to me than the commendation meant. They were very thankful for the job we did, the arrest and the conviction. My Sergeant gave me all the credit, but I refused to accept it. I accepted the commendation on part of the whole department. It was a team effort. My Sergeant taught me a lot and it was because of him that I stuck to it and did that late walk on that night. He told me to “Never give up.” And that’s what I remembered my whole career. Had it not been for the light along the track that shined on her glass buttons, I would never had seen her.
