Murder of Herbert McWright

On May 25, 1968, 57-year-old Herbert McWright was at his neighbor's house on Ohio Ave in Wichita, Kansas. The neighbor would leave her home around 10:30 pm to run and get gas. She would return home within a few minutes. She would find Herbert in his car swerving on 10th st. She knew this was strange and honked her horn at him. This would cause him to pull over for him.

He had been shot and told her that he was looking for her. That she needed to call the police. She opened the door and this would cause him to fall out of the car and would soon die before help could come. It was found that he had been shot in the hip. 

Herbert was a former Kansas City Police Officer. 

SOURCES: 

Witchita Police

Uncovered

The Witchita Eagle May 26, 1968

Witchita Beacon May 27, 1968

Disappearance of Winnefred Jeanette Freeman

On May 8, 1968, 20-year-old Winnefred Freeman was last seen getting into her 1964 blue and white Chevrolet with a heavyset middle-aged man in Portland, Oregon. Her car would be found abandoned four days later in Portland.

Winnefred is a black female and was 20 years old at the time. She's 5'4" and 115 lbs. She has black hair and brown eyes. 

SOURCES:
NamUs

March 16, 1968 Accokeek, Maryland John Doe

On March 16, 1968, skeletal remains of a man were found in a wooded area of nature reserve near the Piscataway National Park and the Potomac River in Accokeek, Maryland. The man could not have died before 1966 due to money found with his remains from 1966. The area they were found is now a housing development.

John Doe was a white male between 30 to 50 years old. He's 5'3" and 150 lbs. He has old fractures of the nose, upper jaw, left clavicle, left ribs, one of the hands, and arthritic shoulders. He was wearing a long sleeve knit v-neck shirt with a pattern of longitudinal lines, a pair of blue trousers, a white t-shirt, a black leather belt, light-colored socks, and a pair of green with print undershorts.

He had items with him three red dice with white dots, have word "Wet" imprinted on them, three keys one with "G.M.",a fingernail knife or pen knife with "Machinists Inc." with photograph of a lathe and a phone number of #Li7-6220 (547-6220), a Ronson cigarette lighter with gold-colored top and black body some money fragments of three 5-dollar bills, two 1-dollar bills, five quarters with "1965," one dime with "1965," one nickel with "1964," three pennies with three different dates: "1966," "1952-D," and "1957-D.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Disappearance of Janis Louis Taylor

On January 9, 1968, 15-year-old Janis Taylor was last seen waiting for a ride home from her school in Concord, New Hampshire where she was a sophomore. Her family believes that someone had abducted and murdered her. 

At the time Janis was a babysitter, and she was worried about one of the little boys, a relative, she babysat. She had seen the boy covered in bruises and told relatives. She believed it was caused by a man who knew the family and not a relative of the toddler.

It's not stated when this happened but the little boy would die 4 days after receiving a kick in the stomach from the man Janis suspected. The man would plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter. He got 1 year in jail and 10 months suspended. There is no evidence of him being involved in Janis's disappearance, but the family suspects him. 

Janis is a white female and was 15-years-old at the time. She was 5'3" and 110 lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She has a scar behind the left ear from an abscess. She was wearing A blue coat, a gold and white suit, black nylon stockings, and black shoes, and had a white purse with her.

SOURCES:
NamUs
New Hampshire Department of Justice
National Center of Missing and Exploited Children
Charley Project
International Missing Persons

Concord Monitor April 2, 2022

Disappearance of Lillian Culbert Williams

Sometime in 1967 or 1968 41/42-year-old, Lillian Williams was last seen at Grambling University in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. She was a teacher at Ruston and was taking a class at Grambling when she went missing. A newspaper article indicates that she went missing on April 30, 1968.

Lillian is an African American woman and was in her early 40's when she went missing. She 5'0" to 5'10" and was 90 to 200lbs. She has black hair and brown eyes.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

Doe Network

They Matter

The Town Talk May 10, 1968

Murder of Karen Rena "Peaches" Hawkins

 

On May 17, 1968, Karen "Peaches" Hawkins disappeared from her home on the 2400 block of 18th Sr, NW in Washington, D.C. She would be found murdered a few days later in the basement of 2526 17th St. NW. 

There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Metropolitan Police Department

Murder of Joseph Baillargeon

 On Feb. 7, 1968, the body of 79-year-old  Joseph Baillargeon was found 7 miles from his home in Biddeford, Maine. 

SOURCES:

Maine State Police

May 25, 1968 Eaton, Ohio Jane Doe

On May 25, 1968, children were playing in a wooded area in Eaton, Ohio. The children discovered the skull of a woman. The badly decomposed trunk of her body with her left arm was also found. The fingers of her hand were hooked in a small tree. Her skull was 75 feet away downstream. The entire area had been swept with high waters within the days before she was discovered. She may have been dead since 1962

Jane Doe was a Caucasian woman between 30 and 50-years-old. She was between 5'2" to 5'6" and 130 to 140 lbs.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Disappearance of Jesse Mathews

On May 19, 1968, 48-year-old Jesse Mathews was last seen in Spokane, Washington. His car was located near Bowl and Pitcher- Riverside State Park in Spokane. Witnesses have indicated that he was murdered. The suspect has been identified but has died since Jesse's disappearance.

Jesse was 48 at the time and is a Native American male. He is 5'8" to 5'10" and 150-170 lbs. He has black hair and brown eyes. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

March 16, 1968 Bristol Island, British Columbia, Canada John Doe

On March 16, 1968, the body of a man was found in Fraser River near Bristol Island, British Columbia, Canada. The man had died between September of 1967 up to March of 1968. He was a caucasian man between 30 to 49-years-old. He's 173cm (5'8") and had a medium build. He had brown hair. He had 3 well-healed finger amputations on his left hand, a 3 cm scar on his chin, no teeth in the upper jaw and some teeth in the lower jaw.

SOURCES:
Canada's Missing

Disappearance of Lilian Culbert Williams

In either 1967 or 1968, 41-43year-old Lillian Williams was last seen at her residence at Grambling University in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. There is little information in this case.

Lillian was in her early 40's when she went missing and is an African American woman. She's around 5'0" to 5'5" and around 900 to 200 lbs. She has black hair and brown eyes.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

Murder of Rose Busch

On November 19, 1968, 64-year-old Rose Busch was baking a cake in her home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Around 4 p.m. when the maid who tended the home left she was icing it. Unbeknownst to anyone someone was sabotaging her husband Harry's car. Someone removed the valve stem and valve core with a special tool. The damage made the tire flat and it couldn't be reinflated or repaired quickly.

The gardener, William Young, left around 5:15 p.m. and he was the last one to see her. He had worked for the family for many years. Rose offered to give him a ride to the bus stop, but he declined.  He made sure all the doors were locked and the Chevrolet and carport were locked for her. It was possible that someone was secretly waiting for him to leave.

Around 5:25 p.m. Harry called his wife to let her know that he was going to be on his way home. He asked her if he needed anything picked up. When he discovered the tire flat he knew he would be delayed and tried to call his wife. She didn't pick up this time. He thought it was strange as he spoke to her a few minutes before, but believed that she may have been giving William a ride home.

Harry got a ride home from a coworker B.T. Barnette Jr. and they left around 5:50 p.m. They went to Floyd's Gulf Station at Broadway and Jackson Avenue and handed over Harry's keys and directions to his car. He tried calling Rose again, but still no answer. He was then soon dropped off at the home.

That was when he found poor Rose's body in the hallway between the carport and kitchen. She was laying on her back and had blows to the head from a .22-caliber pistol and stab wounds. She was stabbed 10 times the final one was done with so much force the handle broke off and the blade was inside her heart. She also had a grazing gunshot wound to her hand. On the floor around her were her glasses, dentures and the handle of the knife. The medical examiner who'd done the autopsy described it as very brutal and prolonged more commonly seen in rape-murders.

The next morning a city brush crew found a pair of bloodstained gloves stained with blood from her blood type on Cherokee Blvd. Alongside Kenesaw Ave. a Cleveland Ohio blue police uniform coat and a police-type raincoat and a police-type hat were found with fake badges. Two Ohio License Plates were also found from a stolen car and a second pair of gloves. The weapon that was shot at the scene was also found it was a 22-caliber-Ruger semiautomatic pistol with a silencer.

There was no blood on the other clothes found with the gloves. With how brutal the scene was police believe that the killers would have been covered in blood. The silencer and gun were of quality, but it was believed that because of the inexperience of the user it wasn't properly put together.

It's believed that someone dressed in a police uniform entered the home through the carport. It's believed that her death was a hit but not done by a professional. The silencer was misaligned and they used the wrong kind of ammunition. The gun jammed on the first shot and they improvised and began beating her with the butt of the gun. They then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her.

SOURCES:
Knoxville Tennessee 
Knoxville News Sentinel 
Knox News
Historic Archeology 

Murder of Christine Hurlburt

On the night of October 5, 1968, 15/16-year-old Christine Hurlburt attended a dance at the Moutain Park Ballroom in Holyoke, Massachusetts. She was last seen walking down the access road to the Dancehall.  The next day she was reported missing by her parents.

On October 12, 1968, during a search for her her father found her body. She was found in the underbrush near the dancehall. A sweater was wrapped around her neck and she had been strangled to death.


SOURCES:
Hampden District Attorney 
The Boston Globe
Find A Grave

Disappearance of Mary Lou Boston

On September 1,1968 23-year-old Mary Lou Boston was last seen in Sacramento, California. Her brother reported her missing as her husband didn't want to get involved with it. This was uncharacteristic of Mary as she was a devoted mother of three.

Her husband Silas Duane Boston was acting nervous and jittery around the time she disappeared. Her brother also noted that Silas .22 caliber rifle one of his prized possessions were missing. He claimed he traded it for things he wanted. But her brother found it suspicious.

In December of 2016, Silas was charged with a double homicide committed at sea in 1978.  His 13-year-old son witnessed him kill Dr. Christopher Farmer and his girlfriend Peta Frampton and then throw them into the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Guatemala on July 8, 1978.

It was believed that Silas was involved in several other murders also. He was suspected in murdering Mar he told someone he shot her twice and then buried her near a remote creek in northern California. He was also suspected in killing two people in Belize, three drug dealers in Sacramento, and a hit-and-run in Sacramento.

They were unable to convict Silas as he died in April of 2017.

Mary was a white female and 23-years-old at the time. She was 5'4" and 120lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Charley Project

Disappearance of Steven Paul Lamb

On May 11, 1968, 17-year-old Steven Lamb was last seen in Seaside, Oregon. At the time it was Senior Skip Day at the school he attended. There is little information available in this case.

Steven is a white male and was 17 at the time. He is 6'0" and 125 lbs. He has brown hair and hazel eyes. He wears corrective lenses. He was wearing a sport shirt, green pants, and white sneakers.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Charley Project
Doe Network

March 28, 1968 St. Charles City, Maryland John Doe

On March 28, 1968, skeletal remains of a man were found in a wooded area at 876 Copley Avenue, west of St. Charles City, Maryland. He possibly died up to 10 years before discovery. He was a white male between 40 and 60 years old. He was around 5'7" and weight couldn't be determined, but described as a medium to thin build. He had healed rib fractures. He had full upper dentures and partial bottoms. He was wearing a brown leather belt, used at 34-inch measurement. He had two keys on a chain and was wearing a ring with either the initial of B or R on it.

SOURCES:

The Doe Network

NamUs

March 17, 1968 Baltimore, Maryland Jane Doe

On March 17, 1968, an elderly woman was found lying in a doorway after falling down the stairs at a multiple units rental residential 2025 Baltimore St. in Baltimore, Maryland. She had died within hours of discovery.

She was a white woman between 60 and 75 years old. She was 5'5" and 100 lbs. She was wearing a pink sweater, green blouse, a dark brown skirt, a brand Hutzlers 3/4 length coat and black suede shoes.

SOURCES:
NamUs

February 1, 1973 Fontana, California Baby Doe

On Feb. 1, 1973, a man was walking his dog in the Jurupa Hills area a mile southwest of Armstrong Road in Fontana, California. His dog began to sniff the ground and curious the ma looked at what his dog was sniffing and found the skull of a child. He had walked by this area many times, but the recent rainfall revealed the skull. In the grave was the body of a Toddler most likely female. They buried only a foot down and had been estimated to have died between 1968 and 1972.

DNA has been attempted at the remains multiple times, but no STR or MtDNA so far. It's estimated that the child was female due to the clothing found with them. Identifying the toddler may only be done with smiling pictures or head x-rays.

The race is unknown and gender is possibly female. They were between the ages of 2 to 4 years old. They were 3'4" and 39 lbs. Clothes description is being withheld. They were found with a child's Rosary with a gold colored crucifix.

SOURCES:
NamUs
The San Bernardino County Sun 1 (Newspapers.com)
The San Bernardino County Sun 2 (Newspapers.com)

September 30, 1968 Will County, Illinois Jane Doe

On September 30, 1968 highway department worker picking up debris in an unincorporated wooded area of Will County, Illinois near I-55 and Blodgett Road. They discovered the body of a female. It was determined that she wasn't killed there. The social climate of the area means that she may have come from anywhere. She had possibly been dead for at least 2 days.

It was estimated she was between 20 and 30 and she may be Native American and or White. She was 5'5" and 135 lbs. Her hair was described as brown but had color ranges from red to medium brown and greying at the roots. Her hair was possibly dyed black, She had brown eyes. Her left ear was darker than the rest of her body. Her left pinky finger is crooked. There were indications of possible prior toxoplasmosis a parasitic disease, usually asymptomatic. She had Tooth #2 broken, #4, #5 and #30 had cavities, #8 and #9 were chipped, #14 and #31 had gold caps, and #3 was porcelain filled.

SOURCES:

The Doe Network
NamUs

December 8, 1968 Lancaster, California Jane Doe

Pictures from Crime Scene

On December 8, 1968 a group of hunters were going into the desert in Lancaster, California. They had come across a coffin 15 feet away from 188th Street East, just south of Fort Tejon Road. The group called it into the Lancaster police.

It was a homemade coffin the top had been glued and hammered down and then painted red. It was buried and covered with rock leaves and dirt. Inside a woman was wrapped in two different quilts. One was 80” by 70” with various red and blues on one side and solid green on the other side. The other quilt was 67” by 76” with the same colors. Her head was resting on a brocade pillow (small decorative pillow). A Newspaper from the Los Angeles Times from 7/1/67 was found in the coffin. It isn't believed she was dead for that long though. It's believed she may have been dead for up to 3 months. 

She had been shot in the temple. It is believed that she may have been killed in a domestic situation. More than likely by a family member or close friend. Someone placed a paper bag over her head, showing there may have been regret. The over wrapping of the body may have also been seen as the same, but it could also be they were trying to prevent animal's from getting to it.

She was a white female between the ages of 30 and 50 years old. She had short red/auburn hair that was graying. She was around 5'4". She had a complete hysterectomy and evidence that she may have given birth to a child at some point.

She was wearing a two piece light pink or light blue (some sources state either) nylon Pj's with elastic waist band measuring 15 inches and the length was 35 inches, and a small Veyellared and white checkered bathrobe that was woven in Great Britain by the brand Sadie Shaw. She was also wearing a hairnet and bobby pins in her hair.

SOURCES:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1205ufca.html
http://theavtimes.com/2012/05/25/detectives-seek-help-with-red-coffin-cold-case/
https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/2994