Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James P Freund #8

[haroldchasen]

He has a definite German or Jewish last name. Jewish is ruled out by his gedmatch profile. He is likely of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry which is German. His Gedmatch showed a strong Anglo component. I guess his paternal line is German and everybody else British Isles descent American.

Most certainly PA Dutch ( German ) with a name like Freund and coming from Lancaster PA , an area known for its Amish population and PA Dutch heritage.

 

[Molly's Mom]

Actually it applies to a pattern of behavior that makes the other spouse feel their life is unbearable. Its often used in cases of verbal or mental abuse.

indignities divorce pennsylvania - Google Search

It's interesting that James is the one that filed. Unfortunately, it still doesn't clear up the why. And it doesn't really matter, I suppose. We still have a killer who has gotten away with murder for 44 years.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

That puzzled me too....I asume he means that the 'Kill' shot was the head shot, but there were two 'disabling' shots to the torso first.

That’s what I thought too. The sheriff really seemed nervous or unprepared but it seemed very important that they wanted to correct the misconception that they had been shot in the neck/throat. Why that was so vital I can’t imagine. It was hard to hear him but I thought he said they were shot multiple times in the chest and back and were killed by a shot to the back of the head.

 

[Coffee56]

So happy to see them going home. RIP. Always so bittersweet. May their families find peace.

 

[Betty P]

Found this information that might apply to persons of interest

"In December of 1976, a truck driver named George Lonnie Henry from Wadesboro, NC was stopped in SC for driving under the influence. He had in his possession a stolen gun with a scratched-off serial number that was ultimately determined through ballistics to be the murder weapon. Subsequent interviews and polygraphs yielded mixed results as to whether or not he was the one responsible for their murders. According to George Henry's statement he was a few hours away at the bed-side of his ailing wife at a NC hospital. The chain of custody of the gun remains a mystery as well. George Henry claims that his brother, Jim Henry had given it to him as a gift. "

https://sumtermysterycouple.com/

So, a few months after the murders LE found the weapon they believed was used to kill the couple in the possession of a NC truck driver. It sounds plausible, the couple was traveling and encountered someone who robbed and killed them, then dumped their bodies away from the crime scene. I've always wondered whether they were hitchhiking, considering Jim was wearing white jeans/slacks - not something a guy would wear outdoors, on the highway and in bad weather. He could have pulled a gun on them at a truck stop parking lot or rest area, taken them away to rape the young woman, then robbed them.

 

[annemc2]

What do you guys think about the mechanic in Nebraska who said that he had done work in their car and he remembers them having a car with Oregon or Washington plates?
Maybe he was mistaken about the car plates? Do you think the sightings was true ?

I tried to find the plates of all the state mentioned above during the 1975/6 period and they don’t really look similiar.

I could see maaaybe mixing up the Oregon and PA ones from reversing the colors. I still have one of those plates that my parents saved from when I was born!

 

[Betty P]

It's interesting that James is the one that filed. Unfortunately, it still doesn't clear up the why. And it doesn't really matter, I suppose. We still have a killer who has gotten away with murder for 44 years.

Yeah, it was probably a case of getting married and starting a family at such a young age, just months after he had enlisted in the Army. He was only 19, she was probably the same age or younger. Basically right out of high school.

Apparently, Pam had also married and divorced while living in Colorado. The video linked on the previous page said her divorce had become final just days after she was murdered, so apparently she and her husband had split up some months before. IIRC, in those days, there was a waiting period after divorce was granted before it became final.

 

[Triss]

they wanted to correct the misconception that they had been shot in the neck/throat.

I'm looking at their crime scene photos and if that's not a gunshot wound on Pamela's neck then I have no idea what I'm looking at exactly.

 

[Canaille]

That’s what I thought too. The sheriff really seemed nervous or unprepared but it seemed very important that they wanted to correct the misconception that they had been shot in the neck/throat. Why that was so vital I can’t imagine. It was hard to hear him but I thought he said they were shot multiple times in the chest and back and were killed by a shot to the back of the head.

I'm going to take a wild guess here. IF they were shot in the back of the head and IF the exit wound was in the neck... my guess is that they were kneeling down when shot? I think this is the way I've seen people shot in pictures of prisoners of war who were killed. Just a wild guess.

And i'm also guessing a shot like that might leave an exit wound in the neck.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I hope someone close to both victims and the police departments involved at the time might speak up and talk about how they searched for them, and how no one made a connection. This is baffling to me. This was such a high-profile case.

 

[Triss]

I hope someone close to both victims and the police departments involved at the time might speak up and talk about how they searched for them, and how no one made a connection. This is baffling to me. This was such a high-profile case.

It's a high profile case to the Doe community, but not exactly to the rest of the world. I assume their relatives were looking for living people, not unidentified remains.

 

[Grungster]

I'm looking at their crime scene photos and if that's not a gunshot wound on Pamela's neck then I have no idea what I'm looking at exactly.

Trachea, perhaps? More likely it's part of her necklace IMO.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Wait, did James' case ever get put into NamUs? I know Pam's did (and like the NamUs pages on the Sumter County Does, it has been removed). I've been going back and forth with this and with the recent ID of Jolaine Hemmy, who also had been reported as missing since 1966, yet I don't believe her profile was ever posted onto NamUs. Just imagine how quickly they could be solved, or a possible match identified before they even try to do DNA genealogy? Just makes you think.

This forum and it’s threads are the most interesting, groundbreaking, heartbreaking, gratifying and exhilarating in all of WS. This is def where it’s at. Thanks for turning me on to the Unidentified @dotr

 

[branmuffin]

Wait, did James' case ever get put into NamUs? I know Pam's did (and like the NamUs pages on the Sumter County Does, it has been removed). I've been going back and forth with this and with the recent ID of Jolaine Hemmy, who also had been reported as missing since 1966, yet I don't believe her profile was ever posted onto NamUs. Just imagine how quickly they could be solved, or a possible match identified before they even try to do DNA genealogy? Just makes you think.

When it really came home to me just how much sleuthing missing persons and UID's is a niche interest was the other day, when Othram said they'd never heard of this particular case. It kind of blew my mind.

 

[dotr]

This forum and it’s threads are the most interesting, groundbreaking, heartbreaking, gratifying and exhilarating in all of WS. This is def where it’s at. Thanks for turning me on to the Unidentified @dotr

Well thank you for that, i had no idea but pleased you joined in!

 

[branmuffin]

This states under the identified info that the two were shot repeatedly.

Sumter Jane Doe 1976 - DNA Doe Project Cases

That's exactly what I'm saying. For the last 20 years or so, the cause of death has been stated as three shots to each person, the back, the chest and the neck. But today, I heard that there was only one wound, a head wound.

 

[branmuffin]

If I heard him right it was a shot to the back of the head.

So how does that square up with information out there for the last 40 years?

 

[vermontaigne]

Trachea, perhaps? More likely it's part of her necklace IMO.

Sounds like the Sheriff was saying the neck wounds were exit wounds.

 

[branmuffin]

Indignities. So many possibilites.

Here's a link to a divorce attorney who explains what general indignities could be. Quite a wide range of possibilities. The term seems a bit archaic to me.

Just What Does "General Indignities" Mean?.

 

[Betty P]

Re the Talladega racing t shirt that Jim was wearing, I found a short article about his military training. After enlisting, he had received training at an Army school to learn automotive repair. He may have been a mechanic during his time in the Army, so was interested in race cars.

4 Feb 1965, 11 - Intelligencer Journal at Newspapers.com