OH OH - Hazel Cross, 26, Toledo, 1 May 1973

[Gardener1850]

Hazel Cross
Lucas County, Ohio
26 year old white female

Hair: Brown, long
Eyes: Blue

Height (inches)	62.0
Weight (pounds)	110.0

Pierced Ears
Tip of finger had been cut off


https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/20779/

Hazel left her residence to go to the grocery store on May 1, 1973 and didn't return home. The tip of her finger has been cut off and both ears are pierced

http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Ohio-Missing-Persons/Cold-Case-Missing-Adults/Cross-%281%29

 

[Gardener1850]

June 26, 2013

For Elsie Denoyer, 73, of Garden City, the DNA sampling offered the possibility that the 40-year mystery of her sister's disappearance could be solved.

"It's just been a nightmare for me," Denoyer said. "Every time they find somebody dead, I think maybe it's her."

Denoyer's sister, Hazel Cross, who would now be 67, was last seen May 3, 1973, and Denoyer had to travel to Toledo to pick up her sister's five young children when she failed to come home. Cross' husband was staying in the Detroit area at the time of the disappearance and eventually claimed the children. Cross' truck was found in the parking lot of a Toledo area grocery store, but clues to Cross' whereabouts are few.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...tives-offer-dna-missing-person-cases/2458749/

 

[Coffee56]

Hazel Alice Cross

• 
• 

Cross, circa 1973

• Missing Since05/01/1973
• Missing FromToledo, Ohio
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Date of Birth06/02/1946 (73)
• Age26 years old
• Height and Weight5'2, 110 pounds
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Cross's ears are pierced. The tip of one of her fingers has been cut off. Her nicknames are Haze and June, and her maiden name is Bowling.

Details of Disappearance
Cross was last seen in Toledo, Ohio on May 1, 1973. Her husband was staying in the Detroit, Michigan area at the time and Cross was alone in Toledo with their five children.

She left to go to the grocery store and has never been heard from again. Her truck was found abandoned in the parking lot of the store, but there was no sign of her. Few details are available in her case.
Investigating Agency

• Toledo Police Department 419-245-3119

Source Information

• NamUs
• USA Today
• Ohio Attorney General's Office

Hazel Alice Cross – The Charley Project

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for Hazel, now missing over 48 years...

 

[Richard]

Hazel Alice Cross, age 26, Missing since 1 May 1973

• Missing Since 05/01/1973
• Missing From Toledo, Ohio
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 06/02/1946 (75)
• Age 26 years old
• Height and Weight 5'2, 110 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Cross's ears are pierced. The tip of one of her fingers has been cut off. Her nicknames are Haze and June, and her maiden name is Bowling.

Details of Disappearance

Cross was last seen in Toledo, Ohio on May 1, 1973. Her husband was staying in the Detroit, Michigan area at the time and Cross was alone in Toledo with their five children.

She left to go to the grocery store and has never been heard from again. Her truck was found abandoned in the parking lot of the store, but there was no sign of her. Few details are available in her case.

Investigating Agency

• Toledo Police Department 419-245-3119

Source Information

• Hazel Alice Cross – The Charley Project

 

[alb1on]

I am wondering about some of the details for Hazel. She has a birth date of 1946 but Ancestry has a marriage record for Hazel Bowling marrying Od Dennis Cross in Cumberland Tennessee on 3 December 1960, which would make her 14 at the time of her marriage if this is her marriage record. The record also shows her age as 16, implying a DoB in 1944, not 1946. That this is likely to be her marriage record is supported not just by the coincidence of names, but also by multiple birth records in Ohio for a mother born Hazel Bowling in Tennessee and married to Od Dennis Cross. So what is correct? Was she a child bride or is the DoB wrong?

I am pretty sure her husband was Odie Dennis Cross who died in 2011 and whose obituary is at Odie Dennis “O.D.” Cross (1943-2011) - Find a Grave Memorial. I say this because the names of the surviving sons match those of the children born in Ohio to Hazel and Od Dennis Cross. He was given as age 17 on the marriage record so the ages also line up.

It would be interesting to know why the husband was in Detroit. On his return to Tennessee he remarried (in 1978) and became a church deacon, although I assume he had a job as well.

 

[Richard]

I wonder if Toledo authorities ever considered serial killer Gary Addison Taylor as a possible suspect in the disappearance of Hazel Cross. He was released from Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Michigan in 1972, and is currently incarcerated in prison at Washington state.

Taylor was convicted of abducting and murdering two women from Toledo. He confessed to killing a total of four women in Michigan, but the bodies of only the two Toledo victims were found and it was those two murders (plus another in Texas and one in Washington) for which he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.

The Toledo, Ohio victims were identified as Lee Fletcher, 25, and Deborah Heneman, 23. They went missing from Toledo in March 1974, and their bodies were found buried next to Taylor's house in Loch Erin, Michigan in 1975.

Investigators place the number of Taylor's victims (all young women) at between 4 and 20. Knowing that he was active between 1972 and 1975, and given the fact that two of his known victims were from Toledo, it would seem to make him a prime candidate as a suspect. A more thorough search of his former residence(s) might turn up evidence in this case.

Gary Addison Taylor

LINK:

MI - Gary Addison Taylor, attacked women 1940's thru 70's in several states: MI, FL, TX, WA

Gary Addison Taylor (born March 1936) It's believed that Gary Addison Taylor, now 87 and incarcerated at Washington State Penitentiary, didn't start killing women until 1972, but he started attacking them when he was a teenager. Taylor moved from Howell, Michigan to Florida with his family...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Caring1]

13 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[alb1on]

I wonder if Toledo authorities ever considered serial killer Gary Addison Taylor as a possible suspect in the disappearance of Hazel Cross. He was released from Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Michigan in 1972, and is currently incarcerated in prison at Washington state.

Taylor was convicted of abducting and murdering two women from Toledo. He confessed to killing a total of four women in Michigan, but the bodies of only the two Toledo victims were found and it was those two murders (plus another in Texas and one in Washington) for which he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.

The Toledo, Ohio victims were identified as Lee Fletcher, 25, and Deborah Heneman, 23. They went missing from Toledo in March 1974, and their bodies were found buried next to Taylor's house in Loch Erin, Michigan in 1975.

Investigators place the number of Taylor's victims (all young women) at between 4 and 20. Knowing that he was active between 1972 and 1975, and given the fact that two of his known victims were from Toledo, it would seem to make him a prime candidate as a suspect. A more thorough search of his former residence(s) might turn up evidence in this case.

Gary Addison Taylor

LINK:

MI - Gary Addison Taylor, attacked women 1940's thru 70's in several states: MI, FL, TX, WA

Gary Addison Taylor (born March 1936) It's believed that Gary Addison Taylor, now 87 and incarcerated at Washington State Penitentiary, didn't start killing women until 1972, but he started attacking them when he was a teenager. Taylor moved from Howell, Michigan to Florida with his family...

www.websleuths.com

I am not sure whether the timeline works. It depends on sources for his release date. The story at Serial killer’s crimes unearthed at Loch Erin 40 years ago says that he was released in 1973, so I guess it depends whether or not this was before May (and whether this source is correct or the one giving 1972 as the release date. The story also says he moved to Loch Erin after getting married later, which suggest any body in this case would be less likely to be found at the same site even if the release timeline adds up. The key lies in having definitive dates.

 

[Richard]

I am not sure whether the timeline works. It depends on sources for his release date. The story at Serial killer’s crimes unearthed at Loch Erin 40 years ago says that he was released in 1973, so I guess it depends whether or not this was before May (and whether this source is correct or the one giving 1972 as the release date. The story also says he moved to Loch Erin after getting married later, which suggest any body in this case would be less likely to be found at the same site even if the release timeline adds up. The key lies in having definitive dates.

Yes, it is important for investigators to construct a complete and accurate timeline on Taylor. Most accounts state that he was released from Ionia State Hospital in 1972 - along with a lot of other criminally insane inmates. He was put on "out patient" status at that time and was being periodically monitored and prescribed medication. It was some time in 1973 when he stopped compliance with his outpatient requirements but he had been free for a year by that time.