OK Debra McClendon 27 Ardmore

[TedMac]

After 30 years, a fresh look at Ardmore murder case

ARDMORE, Okla. -- The case of Debra McClendon's murder has gone unsolved for more than 30 years.

Now the hunt is back on for a suspect.

McClendon's father found her dead in her pickup truck behind Mountain View Mall on September 8, 1987. The 27-year-old woman had been shot in the head.

With a mountain of evidence but still no arrest, Ardmore police investigators say it's time to bring closure to McClendon's family.

 

[waunakeegan]

The articles I read said that Debra had been shot in the head at close range with a high caliber weapon. It appears that some of Debbie's family believe her murder was a hit job and that her husband is somehow involved.

According to some of her relatives, Debra Bowser’s 1982 murder was partly the result of her husband’s association with drug dealers. A similar claim was made in the 1987 murder of Debbie McClendon. McClendon was shot and killed in an Ardmore mall and no one has ever been charged with her murder.

Debbie’s sister Kimberly Leondar said of the investigation, “The whole thing was botched. We always felt that he [Dennis McClendon, Debbie’s husband] had something to do with it—he owed people money for drugs. They had a new house and a new insurance policy.”

Leondar’s father Bill Lynn was the one who found Debbie’s body in her truck in the parking lot at the mall, after her husband reported her missing. She had been shot once in the back of the head. Nothing was stolen and she was not assaulted.

“It was a hit. There are no ‘ands,’ ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ about it,” Leondar said.

There is also a life insurance policy in the mix as well:

Not long after Debbie’s death, a State Farm agent called their parents, Leondar said, because they were listed as secondary beneficiaries on Debbie’s life insurance policy.

“The agent told them the policy was brand new and they could contest it,” Leondar said. At the time, it didn’t occur to them to do so, although in hindsight, they saw the signs of trouble in the McClendon marriage.

“She didn’t talk about her marriage,” Leondar said. “She never would have wanted her sister to worry.”

Here's some links to newspaper articles that I found about Debra's murder:

After 30 years, a fresh look at Ardmore murder case

OKLAHOMA MYSTERIES: Part two - Sister says Debbie McClendon’s 1987 unsolved murder was an obvious hit

No suspect, weapon or motive: Ardmore woman’s 1987 murder still a mystery

Ardmore cold case reopened