CT CT - Janice Pockett, 7, Tolland, 26 July 1973

[grievousangel]

As I mentioned earlier, I live near the Tolland/Vernon towns in CT...I am farther east and very close to the university, however, we travel frequently to those towns for shopping, movies etc. Those towns back in the seventies must have been fairly rural or semi rural....small neighborhoods with occasional large acreages devoted to perhaps a dairy farm or corn? ....parts of that area still retain a small town atmosphere but largely it has become one long suburban chain into Hartford. Sister, do you still live in the Tolland area? If so, what was the neighborhood like where you lived back then....Did you live near a major highway where lots of cars would likely be passing by? Does LE believe that your sister was abducted by someone she knew? Were any of your neighbors ever suspected but due to lack of evidence or whatever, never charged? I am not a native of this state but have lived here for a decade....change is coming fast even out where I am but I would have to think that thirty odd yrs ago this entire area from outside Hartford to the univeristy would have been considered ''the boondocks''.

 

[smile22]

grievousangel if you go back into the postings there is several suspects listed two of them which is alive who lives near the airport. i did some research on of of them but couldn't find any info on him he is not registered sex offender i believe anything prior to a certain date the crimes are not listed in the registry.


i live closer to Hartford Tolland is about an hr away from me

 

[sister]

I currently live about 20 minutes from Tolland. Tolland was definitely the "boondocks" back in the 70's. The road we lived on is very close to interstate 84, which I think was called 86 back then. It would have been very easy for someone to get off the highway and back on again quickly. My sister was taken very close to our house at the beginning of a dirt road. Her bike was found standing up there, pointing in the direction of our house, which makes me think that someone must have lured her off her bike to his car. I know the neighbors were looked at but I don't think there was anything suspicious there. There was a relative (a cousin of my grandfather's I believe) that my mother was suspicious of, but he had an alibi (he was at work). I know there were many suspects that were never officially cleared, and a person of interest (Nathaniel Bar Jonah) has emerged more recently, but due to appeals the police haven't been able to speak with him yet.

 

[grievousangel]

The I84 corridor certainly is a busy one....even back then I would imagine. It makes it so much more complicated....so many travellers from Hartford to Providence or Boston on those roads not to mention just the local commerce...has anything more developed on Roland Slater as a suspect? Was he even interviewed? Are all of the items dusted for fingerprints still in possession of LE....none have been ''lost'' have they? I certainly hope that the path is soon open to fully investigating Nathanial Bar Jonah!

 

[ihadcabinfever]

Sister, I am very sorry to see your sister Janice has not been found nor someone held responsible for her dissapearance.
I just read everyone's posts and was thinking there may have not been any fingerprints on her bike at all ,if she peddled up to the rock to see the butterfly she may have swung the bike wide t turn around before she parked it. Then she would have gotten off herself and put out her kickstand with her foot and gone over to the rock.
Did your mother think it was a relative ? Maybe someone living nearby that was at the store the same time you were all there . Someone would know Mom would be preoccupied with the groceries when she got home.
I think the truth is closer to town than a ramdom person getting that lucky.

Other than a random stranger my guess would be a grocery store connection , a delivery truck person that was at the store would use the highway and be able to observe the area without looking out of place.
Like the people you look at and know you know them but cant pin point where from.
It's a very long time to wait Sister , I am very sorry you and your parents cant have closure.

 

[smile22]

david Vaicunas is another suspect that needs more looking into i did some research into him and found very little and what i did find is posted on the other pages of this thread. is there any veteran sleuthers who have access to more info who might want to look more into him

 

[Sable]

I've read some articles about Janice's disappearance. I was wondering... was there a school nearby to where she disappeared, or a school being built in the area?

 

[sister]

A school was built a few years ago right at the location where Janice's bike was found.

 

[smile22]

if they built the school they would have had to dig up earth to build it and if any bones were present they would have shown up when they dug up the school which leads me to believe the person who took Janice went somewhere else with her body and possibly buried it close by to where her bike was but not in the same location

 

[Richard]

if they built the school they would have had to dig up earth to build it and if any bones were present they would have shown up when they dug up the school which leads me to believe the person who took Janice went somewhere else with her body and possibly buried it close by to where her bike was but not in the same location

You are probably correct in thinking that the building of a school would - or should - have uncovered any shallow grave. But I doubt that she would have been killed or buried so close to where she was abducted.

It is difficult to apply normal logic to the actions of someone who would abduct and possibly kill a little girl. But as crazy as they may be, they are usually thinking of self preservation. That is, they don't want to get caught.

The perpetrator would have known that he had only a limited time from the point of abduction, until someone would come looking for Janice. He would most likely have taken her away from the abduction site immediately. The fact that he left her bike for searchers to find, would indicate that he was not concerned about being caught in that area digging a grave.

 

[sister]

The police believe Janice was taken somewhere. There was such a massive search when she disappeared that if there were any clues nearby they would have been found.

 

[smile22]

so maybe she was taken somewhere away from tolland and then brought back to be buried? but didnt come back untill the search stoped or something just some thoughts

 

[sister]

bumping

 

[joellegirl]

Bumping for Janice and her sister.

Sister, did you live in a subdivison at the time? Were there ever any neighbors in question? I know the focus is on some known child predators but I wonder if it was some random neighbor or person who knew her through school etc..who lured her. Sorry if this has been covered already. I'm just trying to think of something to keep Janice's story going.

Edited to add :Ok, I see the neighbor thing was pretty much covered but maybe it wouldn't hurt to go over that again. It is just so frustrating. I'm sure all bases have been covered again and again. Thinking of you and your family, sister.

 

[sister]

Thank you so much. I know the detective who had Janice's case in the 1980's looked thoroughly at people in the neighborhood. I believe he said there were a couple of suspicious people but they were cleared. I know he also wondered if maybe someone maybe had followed us home from the grocery store that day.

 

[nrob372969]

Hi there. I am new to the site. I have been curious about this for years as I grew up in Tolland and probably went to school with her at Meadowbrook. I am six months older than she. I moved to Dallas in the summer of 1973, but saw an article in one of the Hartford papers on the 30th anniversary of her going missing. Ever since I just can't let it go. I have some ideas/feelings and I'm not sure if I'm making it up, or if I really may know something.

 

[sister]

Hi - welcome to Websleuths. I am Janice Pockett's sister. I am very interested in hearing your ideas.

 

[nrob372969]

I believe I was molested by a neighbor when I lived in Tolland. Everybody said he was my best friend, a grown man. We used to ride bikes together. I am guessing that Janice disappeared very soon after we moved to Dallas. She and I do have similar facial structure, both had shorter brown hair and were the same age. I remember him driving a heating oil truck, so he would be very familiar with the area and wouldn't cause suspicion. She may have recognized him if he had made oil deliveries to your house. I often wonder if he may have happened upon her and was reminded of me. What do you think? Am I making sense?

 

[sister]

Bumping for Janice - she disappeared 34 years ago today.

 

[joellegirl]

Thinking of Janice on this sad anniversary. Are there any new developments from what the new poster on this thread had to say? I realize you may not be able to talk about it. I'm hoping we will get answers soon, for you and your family's sake.