DE DE - Anne Manchester, 26, Newark, 29 June 1980

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Just an fyi about the Linda O'Day case...that is the only verified name that I am 100% certain that Henry Lee Lucas was questioned about in Delaware. I did extensive research on another case and was trying to find out if Lucas was ever considered a suspect and the person in LE who I spoke with said that in the mid 80s law enforcememt officials from Delaware did indeed go down to Texas and speak with Lucas and it was specifically about Linda O'Day (Lucas is his confession rant in 1983 claimed to have killed 6 people in Delaware). I never got any info about their findings, but they did verify that Lucas worked at one time right in New Castle, DE at Air Base Carpet Mart and that he was verifiably in New Castle County, DE on more than 2 occasions in June/July of 1981.
 
Thewop356 said:
Just an fyi about the Linda O'Day case...that is the only verified name that I am 100% certain that Henry Lee Lucas was questioned about in Delaware. I did extensive research on another case and was trying to find out if Lucas was ever considered a suspect and the person in LE who I spoke with said that in the mid 80s law enforcememt officials from Delaware did indeed go down to Texas and speak with Lucas and it was specifically about Linda O'Day (Lucas is his confession rant in 1983 claimed to have killed 6 people in Delaware). I never got any info about their findings, but they did verify that Lucas worked at one time right in New Castle, DE at Air Base Carpet Mart and that he was verifiably in New Castle County, DE on more than 2 occasions in June/July of 1981.
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Thanks. Is there a source I can point to in case I decide to do a write up on Linda for Reddit? So far the only thing I can find is that Henry Lee Lucas was verified as occasionally living with family in Cecil County from his release in jail from 1975 until his capture in 1983. Does the FBI have a verified timeline about his movements from 1975 to 1983?

If Henry Lee Lucas is a suspect in Linda O'Day's case, it makes a lot of sense why her case seems to be with the FBI as opposed to just Delaware police. Linda O'Day worked part-time at a McDonald's on DuPont Highway and I can see her "catching" his eye and him stalking her until a moment arouse. It's been assumed that Linda O'Day was killed the night/morning she was last seen alive by her friends going to her apartment in New Castle after they had spent the night of May 29th clubbing. I had assumed the reason why her case was with the FBI was because Linda might have gone clubbing in either Baltimore or Philadelphia the last night she was seen alive (therefore her killer didn't live in Delaware), but this also makes a lot of sense.

My personal theory with Linda had been that she met a guy while she was clubbing and she met up with him in her apartment and he killed her during the encounter, but Linda being stalked by Lucas also makes a lot of sense. Her apartment was basically just a converted single family home. It didn't have the security that Anne Manchester's had which makes it easier to believe that someone just slipped in. In Anne's case, I really think she was killed by a guy she knew which rules out Henry Lee Lucas in my mind. I think whoever killed Anne would have easily passed as someone who "belonged" in a college town, and Henry Lee Lucas would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

I'm assuming the case you're researching is Tina Faye Kemp, who disappeared from Felton, Delaware in 1979? In that case I think she hitchhiked with the wrong person. Henry Lee Lucas is definitely a strong suspect for that case. I have thought that Tina's case is linked to Kathryn Quackenbush, a 17-year old girl who disappeared from the DelMar, Maryland area while she was visiting family in the summer of 1981. She decided to walk along Route 13 to get to a bowling alley in Salisbury and never showed up.
 
The person I spoke with about Linda's case was Hal Brown from the State Medical Examiner's office (he has since retired). I was not told directly, but I was under the impression that LE officials who spoke to Lucas did not think he was a viable suspect in Linda's case. I did not get any specifics about her murder or anything else that I think could help you, but it is really weird to me that she worked at the McDonalds on DuPont Hwy, my ex-wife worked there when she was in high school and I have been going there for over 35 years.
 
methodwriter85 said:
Thanks. Is there a source I can point to in case I decide to do a write up on Linda for Reddit? So far the only thing I can find is that Henry Lee Lucas was verified as occasionally living with family in Cecil County from his release in jail from 1975 until his capture in 1983. Does the FBI have a verified timeline about his movements from 1975 to 1983?

If Henry Lee Lucas is a suspect in Linda O'Day's case, it makes a lot of sense why her case seems to be with the FBI as opposed to just Delaware police. Linda O'Day worked part-time at a McDonald's on DuPont Highway and I can see her "catching" his eye and him stalking her until a moment arouse. It's been assumed that Linda O'Day was killed the night/morning she was last seen alive by her friends going to her apartment in New Castle after they had spent the night of May 29th clubbing. I had assumed the reason why her case was with the FBI was because Linda might have gone clubbing in either Baltimore or Philadelphia the last night she was seen alive (therefore her killer didn't live in Delaware), but this also makes a lot of sense.

My personal theory with Linda had been that she met a guy while she was clubbing and she met up with him in her apartment and he killed her during the encounter, but Linda being stalked by Lucas also makes a lot of sense. Her apartment was basically just a converted single family home. It didn't have the security that Anne Manchester's had which makes it easier to believe that someone just slipped in. In Anne's case, I really think she was killed by a guy she knew which rules out Henry Lee Lucas in my mind. I think whoever killed Anne would have easily passed as someone who "belonged" in a college town, and Henry Lee Lucas would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

I'm assuming the case you're researching is Tina Faye Kemp, who disappeared from Felton, Delaware in 1979? In that case I think she hitchhiked with the wrong person. Henry Lee Lucas is definitely a strong suspect for that case. I have thought that Tina's case is linked to Kathryn Quackenbush, a 17-year old girl who disappeared from the DelMar, Maryland area while she was visiting family in the summer of 1981. She decided to walk along Route 13 to get to a bowling alley in Salisbury and never showed up.
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There is a place you can find the timeline that authorities in Texas put together about Lucas' whereabouts, I dont have the link anymore but I did post it on Tina Faye Kemp's missing page here in Websleuths. It is in a report submitted by Vic Feazell along with much more info (known and unknown to the public). It is a very interesting read.
 
Thewop356 said:
The person I spoke with about Linda's case was Hal Brown from the State Medical Examiner's office (he has since retired). I was not told directly, but I was under the impression that LE officials who spoke to Lucas did not think he was a viable suspect in Linda's case. I did not get any specifics about her murder or anything else that I think could help you, but it is really weird to me that she worked at the McDonalds on DuPont Hwy, my ex-wife worked there when she was in high school and I have been going there for over 35 years.
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I really get the feeling that Linda was murdered by a guy she might have met while she was clubbing that weekend. She was last seen alive around 2:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 30th leaving her friend's house in New Castle to drive back to her apartment. I think she met up with a guy either that night/early morning or sometime over Saturday/Sunday. Her body was discovered at 2 p.m. on Monday, June 1st, so there's about a two-day time frame where she could have been killed. It's also possible that Linda could have been followed and stalked by someone who saw her at the club. It doesn't seem like any specific clubs have been mentioned where Linda and her friends went to, so I'm assuming they did a bunch of bar hopping, possibly in Philadelphia or Baltimore. That could explain why Linda's case seems to be with the FBI, because there's a good chance the suspect isn't from Delaware.

I lean towards thinking that Linda's killer was the type of guy that could "blend in" and be attractive a la Bundy, so very much not Henry Lee Lucas.

I was able to read the text and it looks like Linda pulled hair from her attacker which is a great piece of evidence- I really hope it's been preserved.

I was able to read an obituary and it looked like Linda had several siblings- I wonder if any of them are still alive and advocating for her.
 
Thanks! I believe she would have graduated in 1972 or 1973, going by her year of birth. Not sure what year she graduated from college, and if she attended UD for undergrad as well as her MBA. For what it's worth, I looked in yearbooks for University of Delaware (1976, 1977, and 1978) and couldn't find any mention of Anne Manchester. That's not to say that Anne Manchester didn't go to UD for her undergrad years, but if she did, she didn't show up for yearbook photos. It was more of a voluntary thing for college.

She grew up in the Anglesey area of Wilmington, and it doesn't appear like she had any siblings.

I'm really curious as to what she was up to leading up her disappearance. Did she have a job? Was she being wholly supported by her parents? Why was she wearing a silver wedding ring despite never being married? I've read that waitresses and bartenders like to do that in order to not get hit on- did she work at a bar? She was a college town- that's pretty reasonable.
 
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Thewop356 said:
The person I spoke with about Linda's case was Hal Brown from the State Medical Examiner's office (he has since retired). I was not told directly, but I was under the impression that LE officials who spoke to Lucas did not think he was a viable suspect in Linda's case. I did not get any specifics about her murder or anything else that I think could help you, but it is really weird to me that she worked at the McDonalds on DuPont Hwy, my ex-wife worked there when she was in high school and I have been going there for over 35 years.
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Do you think there's enough to start a separate thread on Linda O'Day? If you decide to, let me know.

I've talked about her case and someone brought up a very interesting theory- could Linda have been killed by a patient? She worked as a secretary at a mental health facility and it's possible that a patient could have become obsessed with her and began stalking her once they got released. She probably didn't know she was being followed. It's possible that Linda could have gone out one night and someone waited for her. It doesn't look like it was a very secure apartment she lived in.

I also think she could have been getting stalked by a customer at McDonald's that became infatuated with her.
 
methodwriter85 said:
Thanks! I believe she would have graduated in 1972 or 1973, going by her year of birth. Not sure what year she graduated from college, and if she attended UD for undergrad as well as her MBA. For what it's worth, I looked in yearbooks for University of Delaware (1976, 1977, and 1978) and couldn't find any mention of Anne Manchester. That's not to say that Anne Manchester didn't go to UD for her undergrad years, but if she did, she didn't show up for yearbook photos. It was more of a voluntary thing for college.

She grew up in the Anglesey area of Wilmington, and it doesn't appear like she had any siblings.

I'm really curious as to what she was up to leading up her disappearance. Did she have a job? Was she being wholly supported by her parents? Why was she wearing a silver wedding ring despite never being married? I've read that waitresses and bartenders like to do that in order to not get hit on- did she work at a bar? She was a college town- that's pretty reasonable.
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Re: the silver ring — it's tickling the back of my mind that I read somewhere that it was a ring she'd inherited/been given by a family member. I'll see if I can track down a source for that!
 
rubyraconteur said:
Re: the silver ring — it's tickling the back of my mind that I read somewhere that it was a ring she'd inherited/been given by a family member. I'll see if I can track down a source for that!
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I remember the silver ring being mentioned at first in an earlier version of her Charlie Project write-up that kind of suggested she was married, but a later version (likely with the July 1980 News Journal blurb as a source) made it clear that Anne was not married or dating anyone seriously.

I do think Anne was killed by someone who she knew. I really lean towards the idea that Anne was kidnapped by a guy she had her MBA classes with. Like he lured her out to his car with the promise of showing her some study notes and he kidnapped her in the parking lot.
 
Thewop356 said:
The person I spoke with about Linda's case was Hal Brown from the State Medical Examiner's office (he has since retired). I was not told directly, but I was under the impression that LE officials who spoke to Lucas did not think he was a viable suspect in Linda's case. I did not get any specifics about her murder or anything else that I think could help you, but it is really weird to me that she worked at the McDonalds on DuPont Hwy, my ex-wife worked there when she was in high school and I have been going there for over 35 years.
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I did a readthrough of the FBI file they have on Lucas which includes things about Linda O'Day case. The bit about the three knives in the laundry basket and the perp covering her face after killing her makes me think it had to be someone who knew her and was lying in wait for her, or they had been stalking her for awhile without her knowing.
So I'm thinking either an ex-boyfriend, a co-worker from either McDonald's or the mental hospital, or someone that had been fixated on her for awhile. I don't think it was a random break-in from a stranger.
 
As a bit of background information, I did find Anne's mother obituary. She passed in 2023 at the age of 93, and incredibly, her father might still be alive. I did discover that Anne does have a living brother but I'm not going to say his name here out of respect for his privacy. (And I think it would probably be against the rules, anyway.)
 
Bumping this case up!
Interesting that Anne's personal items were still in her apartment and the front door was unlocked. If it's true about the MAIN apartment door being locked and visitors needed to be (buzzed) in, I assume Anne went to let someone in or stepped outside on her own. But if she left her purse and keys inside, I would think she was planning to come right back.
 
Sweetluv said:
Bumping this case up!
Interesting that Anne's personal items were still in her apartment and the front door was unlocked. If it's true about the MAIN apartment door being locked and visitors needed to be (buzzed) in, I assume Anne went to let someone in or stepped outside on her own. But if she left her purse and keys inside, I would think she was planning to come right back.
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Yep. I really think she intended to be gone for just a couple of moments and then she was abducted in the car parking lot.
 
This feels personal to me, not random. I think Anne stepped out to meet someone in the parking lot or outside the main door of the apt complex. She would hv locked the door or taken her purse if she planned to go somewhere..most likely planning to sit in their vehicle and chat..probably why no one witnessed her abduction, he/she simply drove away.
 
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