June 22, 1979 Orleans Parish, Louisiana John Doe

On June 22, 1979, the body of a boy was found in a body of water in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. It's believed that he had drowned between 1978 to 1979.

John Doe is a black male and was between 8 to 10 years old. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

June 18, 1979, Baltimore, Maryland (New Jersey) John Doe

 On June 18, 1979, the remains of a man were found in a pump of a dry dock in Baltimore, Maryland. The dry dock was towed from New Jersey to Baltimore in the late 1950s. This would estimate that the man had died between 1929 and 1959.

John Doe was likely white between 40 to 65 years old. He was 5'11" with a muscular robust build. He had arthritis in his knees and had mouth stress suggestive of a mind instrument player or glass blower. Two china buttons were found with the body. The buttons were likely used on suspenders and were a style of WWII. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Doe Network

Unidentified Wiki

May 28, 1979 Bear Creek Township, Pennsylvania

On May 28, 1979, Two men would be walking through the woods looking for a fishing hole in Bear Creek Township, Pennsylvania. They would stumble across the body of a man. He had been thrown down an embankment from the road causing his shoe to fall off.  He had been shot in his left chest and had been dead for around 10 to 14 days. 

John Doe is a white male around 17 to 22 years old. He was 5'10" and 180 lbs. He has brown hair. 

He was found wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, tan trousers with white pinstripes, white underwear, black socks, over a pair of white socks, and black loafers, a bracelet was sterling silver (with “Vedon” on the clasp) and the ring was 14K gold with a serpent design worn on his right little finger. It's believed that the bracelet was from the brand Avedon and the A had worn off. This would mean the bracelet was made in New York.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Crime Watch PA

Citizen's Voice May 29, 1979

The Times Leader August 3, 1979

Fox 56 May 10, 2023

Disappearance of Sister Jacinta Bracken (Christina Nuala Bracken)

In 1979, 38-year-old Sister Jacinta Bracken was a nun who based at the Stella Maris convent in Swansea, Wales. She was from Ballacolla, Ireland. She was working as a music teacher for the Ursuline of Jesus Convent. She was well-liked and was known to like to walk, shop, and give children guitar lessons. 

On May 19, 1979, it was seemingly a normal day for Sister Jacinta. She did communal prayer and spent the morning grading papers. After lunch, she helped wash the dishes and headed to the city center to buy tights/stockings for her mother's birthday.

She asked another nun at the convent if she wanted to walk with her into town. The other sister was unable to, but the two promised to walk that evening. However, that wouldn't happen.

Two children that Sister Jacinta taught last seen her near the city's Quadrant multi-story car park.  She was known to often walk along the sand and mudbanks of the old docklands on her way back home from the shopping center. Someone stated that they may have seen her praying at St. Davids that day, but they were unsure because they didn't see her face. 

Her handbag was found on the shore 30 feet from the West Pier inside were stockings she bought for her mother's birthday and a small amount of money. When her room was searched officers found among her small number of personal possessions a ferry ticket to Ireland. 

Sister Jacinta is a white female and was 38-years-old at the time. She has blue eyes. 

SOURCES:

Doe Network

Unidentified Wiki

Tipperary Live Jan 13, 2012

Wales Online 

March 5 1979, Tucson, Arizona John Doe

Approximately where the body was found

On March 5, 1979, the cranium and vertebrae of a man were found in the desert in Tucson, Arizona.

John Doe is a white male between 20 to 30 years old.  He had brown hair. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Disappearance James P Creegan

 On February 28, 1979, 19-year-old James Creegan was last seen in Rockville Centre, New York. There is little information in this case. 

James is a white man and was 19 years old at the time. He's 6'5" and 180 lbs. He has red auburn hair and blue eyes. 

SOURCES:

NamUs 

February 19, 1979 Los Angeles, California John Doe

On February 19, 1979, a man's skull was found at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. He may have died between 1978 to 1979. 

John Doe was a white man and was around 18 to 35 years old. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner

Unidentified Wiki

Disappearance of Tami Lee Sussi

On December 30, 1979, 17-year-old Tami Lee Sussi was last seen in Los Angeles, California. She may have traveled to Medford, Oregon after her disappearance. There is little information in this case. 

Tami is a white female and was 17-years-old at the time. She's 5'0" and 100 lbs. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has a 1-and-a-half-inch scar on her left wrist. She was wearing a grey fur jacket and brown pants. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

Suspicious Death of Carmel Sue Whitacre

On August 9, 1970, 26-year-old Carmel Whitacre was last seen. She was released from the NH State Hospital for a weekend visit with her husband in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was supposed to return to the hospital to never be seen again.

On October 27, 1979 hunters were a short distance from Route. 43 in Northwood, New Hampshire. This was where they found Carmel's skeletal remains. Her cause of death is either unknown or unstated. It's unknown if she was murdered or not but her death is suspicious. 

SOURCES:
New Hampshire Department of Justice
Valley News November 2, 1979

Murder of Gino DiLorenzo

On December 26, 1979, 31-year-old Gino DiLorenzo was shot and killed immediately upon arriving at his home on Harrison St. in Johnston, Rhode Island. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES: 

Rhode Island Cold Case

Project Cold Case

Find a Grave

Murder of Leroy Shannon

On November 7, 1979 at 2:13 a.m. officers arrived to the area of Nabbs Creek Rd near Locust Grove in Arundel, Maryland. 18-year-old Leroy Shannon was found lying on the roadway with his bicycle nearby. He was pronounced deead on arrivle at the hospitral. The Anne Arndele County, Maryland website states that his  death was initially investigated as a hit and run and that he died from truama to his upper body. 

SOURCES:
Anne Arundel County, Maryland 

The Evening Sun November 7, 1979

Murder of Wilma Scribner

On November 2, 1977, 43-year-old Wilma Scribner was reported missing by her husband. She went missing with their dark green, wood-paneled 1968 Ford LTD Squire station wagon with a roof rack and Ver mont license plates C-8037.

On March 21, 1979, her body would be found in Otter Creek in the Town of Weybridge, Vermont. It was found that she had been strangled to death. In October the Ford would be found in the same creek up from where her body was found. 

SOURCES:

Vermont State Police

The Burlington Free Press March 23, 1979

Rutland Daily Herald October 3, 1979

The Possible Homicide of Roy

 A witness came forward stating when they were a child, around 6-years-old, witnessed the murder of a man named Roy. He had been beaten to death with a fire poker and buried in a wooded area behind the witness's home in one of 6 states they lived in. 

Roy was a white male. He was a caretaker of a farm for an older white woman possibly named Quincey. He would have died between 1975 to 1979. It could have happened in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or Texas.

SOURCES:

Georgia Bureau of Investigation

Murder of Gijsbert "Ben" Kistemaker

In May of 1979 26-year-old Gijsbert "Ben" Kistemaker bought a faded blue and white Chevy van in New York. He was from the Netherlands and planned a road trip across to California and then up north on the coast through Oregon and Washington to get to British Columbia to meet a friend. He was known to pick up hitchhikers. 

On September 22, 1979, Ben's van was found abandoned near mile marker 233 on Highway 101 in Oregon. Receipts in the van indicated that he traveled as far north as Seattle. The van was unlocked and out of gas. On December 25th his body was found in an old gravel pit about 3 miles from Rockport, Washington on Rockport Cascade Road. He had been shot in the head

SOURCES:

Skagit County

Skagit Breaking March 3, 2020

Defrosting Cold Cases May 24, 2020

Murder of Vickie Lynn Belk

In 1979 28-year-old Vickie Belk was a management analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. On August 29, 1979, Vickie's body was found in a wooded area off of Metropolitan Church Road near Route 227 in Bryans Road in Charles County, Maryland. Her cause of death is unstated. 

SOURCES:

Charles County Sheriff's Office

Washington Times

Murder of Robert Miller

 

On August 5, 1979, around 3:45 a.m. 26-year-old  Robert Miller outside of the A&D Saloon  North Front Street in Rock Springs, Wyoming. He was outside with a man who they seemed to get along with before getting into an argument with him. The other man would then shoot and kill Robert. 

SOURCES:

City of Rock Springs

Murder of Minerva Hill

On Sunday, June 10, 1979, the body of 23-year-old Minerva Hill was found off of Elizabeth road in Paulsboro, New Jersey near the water tower. She had been dead since at least Friday from blunt force trauma to the head. She had been killed elsewhere and wrapped in a sheet and her body dumped where she was found. 

Minerva was a native of Paulsboro and was living on Swedesboro Ave. with relatives. She had been previously living in Florida and had recently returned back to town. 

SOURCES:

Gloucester County

Courier-Post June 11, 1979

Courier-Post June 12, 1979

Courier-Post June 13, 1979

Murder of Donna Denise Baker

 On May 18, 1979, 21-year-old Donna Baker was found in a vacant lot near Morocco and Heritage in San Antonio, Texas. She had been shot in the back and her car was found a short distance from her. Her keys and purse were still in the car. At the time Donna was working at a computer firm and living in an apartment. 

SOURCES:

Unsolved Crimes

City of San Antonio 

KSAT

Murder of Joseph V. Furando

In May of 1979 39-year-old Joseph Furando went on a business trip to New Hampshire from his home in Gilford, Connecticut. He was last seen in Newton, Massachusetts. On May 16th he had reservations at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On May 17th he would be found on Brewer Rd in Kensington, New Hampshire. He was found lying 20 feet from his vehicle. His death was caused by being shot in the head. 

SOURCES:

New Hampshire Department of Justice

Murder of Dawn Marie Davis

 

On October 23, 1979, 29-year-old Dawn Davis was found dead in her apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah. She had not been heard from for around 2 weeks prior to her body being found. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Utah Department of Public Safety