MN MN - Mary, 15, & Susan Reker, 12, St Cloud, 2 Sept 1974

[Richard]

• 
  Susan (L) and Mary (R) Reker

 

[Shot tower17]

This case is such a mystery! Wasn’t the younger one dragged by her sweater to be hid in the
tall grasses? Wasn’t blood found on the clothing? Have the Authorities invited Parabon Nanolabs, (which have solved older cases with old degraded DNA) to help look at the DNA in this case, besides BCA? This is still an Open and Unsolved. The accomplice may still be alive and law enforcement seem so close to solving the Reker Sisters Case.
Wouldn’t a Parabon snapshot DNA analysis be helpful?. Genetic DNA testing is scientifically advancing since it was looked at last. The mother deserves her day in court. Very Sad.

 

[TedMac]

This case is such a mystery! Wasn’t the younger one dragged by her sweater to be hid in the
tall grasses? Wasn’t blood found on the clothing? Have the Authorities invited Parabon Nanolabs, (which have solved older cases with old degraded DNA) to help look at the DNA in this case, besides BCA? This is still an Open and Unsolved. The accomplice may still be alive and law enforcement seem so close to solving the Reker Sisters Case.
Wouldn’t a Parabon snapshot DNA analysis be helpful?. Genetic DNA testing is scientifically advancing since it was looked at last. The mother deserves her day in court. Very Sad.

Yes to all of your questions except Parabon-not sure about that one. Welcome to Websleuths!

 

[Luckyzmom]

Outstanding post welcome

 

[ELOCsoul]

This case is such a mystery! Wasn’t the younger one dragged by her sweater to be hid in the
tall grasses? Wasn’t blood found on the clothing? Have the Authorities invited Parabon Nanolabs, (which have solved older cases with old degraded DNA) to help look at the DNA in this case, besides BCA? This is still an Open and Unsolved. The accomplice may still be alive and law enforcement seem so close to solving the Reker Sisters Case.
Wouldn’t a Parabon snapshot DNA analysis be helpful?. Genetic DNA testing is scientifically advancing since it was looked at last. The mother deserves her day in court. Very Sad.

There have been DNA tests performed in the last two years and were inconclusive. Herb Notch has been named as the top suspect but it’s believed he had an accomplice

 

[CastlesBurning]

KARE 11 Investigates: New lead in cold case double murder | kare11.com

A carnival worker convicted of murdering two Maryland sisters in 1975 may be connected to the 1974 unsolved murders of the Reker sisters in Minnesota.

 

[Betty P]

KARE 11 Investigates: New lead in cold case double murder | kare11.com

A carnival worker convicted of murdering two Maryland sisters in 1975 may be connected to the 1974 unsolved murders of the Reker sisters in Minnesota.

Wow, she was attacked just a couple of days before the Reker girls were murdered. She wrote about it in a scrapbook that she kept all these years.

from the linked article:

“So, I want to make sure I have this straight,” asked Lagoe. “You met the man who assaulted you across the street from the Zayres?”

“That’s correct,” Georgianne said.

“And where you were sexually assaulted was less than three-quarters of a mile from where the sisters' bodies were found?” he asked.

“That’s correct,” she replied.

Georgianne says she reported her attack to authorities back in 1974. But she says Lawrence Kritzeck, an investigator for the Stearns County Sheriff at the time, told her they didn’t think there was a connection to the Reker murders.

Her attacker was never located.

BBM

Years later, when she saw Lloyd Welch's photo, she recognized him as her attacker.

This is probably the reason so many cold cases got that way. Local LE in small towns and cities just didn't have enough experience to investigate these kinds of crimes. Stearnes county LE, though, still refuses to consider Lloyd Welch the killer of the Reker sisters.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Wow, she was attacked just a couple of days before the Reker girls were murdered. She wrote about it in a scrapbook that she kept all these years.

from the linked article:

“So, I want to make sure I have this straight,” asked Lagoe. “You met the man who assaulted you across the street from the Zayres?”

“That’s correct,” Georgianne said.

“And where you were sexually assaulted was less than three-quarters of a mile from where the sisters' bodies were found?” he asked.

“That’s correct,” she replied.

Georgianne says she reported her attack to authorities back in 1974. But she says Lawrence Kritzeck, an investigator for the Stearns County Sheriff at the time, told her they didn’t think there was a connection to the Reker murders.

Her attacker was never located.

BBM

Years later, when she saw Lloyd Welch's photo, she recognized him as her attacker.

This is probably the reason so many cold cases got that way. Local LE in small towns and cities just didn't have enough experience to investigate these kinds of crimes. Stearnes county LE, though, still refuses to consider Lloyd Welch the killer of the Reker sisters.

I have spoken to Georgianne. She actually approached me but declined to answer some pretty basic questions about the contents of her journal. The reporter’s work was fairly shoddy on this story, but headlines sell. I did some research on carnivals operating in the area, including one performing at St Anne’s Catholic Church in Kimball the weekend of the Reker murders. I also read the book, The Last Stone, about the Lyons murders. I could find nothing to substantiate the assertion that Lloyd Welch was anywhere near Minnesota at the time of the killings. I am very skeptical of any connection, and so is SCSO.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Search for answers in nearly 50-year-old St. Cloud cold case

 

[Richard]

This tragic double murder remains unsolved. The 50 year anniversary of the killing of these girls will occur this year in September.

 

[Richard]

Sorry, but my comments got attached to the end of the quoted post below:

...

Obituary for Herbert Notch
Herbert Daniel Notch, Jr. was born on October 5, 1958 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He died on May 11, 2017 at the St. Cloud Hospital.
He was baptized and confirmed at St. Anthonys Catholic Church and received his secondary education in the ALC in St. Cloud. He enlisted in the United States Navy, serving as a fireman recruit in San Diego, California before his honorable discharge in June of 1976. He made his living painting and shingling. In his leisure time, he enjoyed fishing, music, camping, and spending time outdoors...

Seems they didn't add
Stealing
Kidnapping
Rape
Stabbing ...

______________


This Herbert Notch character sounds like a viable suspect in the murders of Mary and Susan Reker, although he probably had at least one accomplice.

He would have been 16 years old when the murders occurred in September 1974.

Of suspicious mention in his obituary is that he was discharged from the US Navy as a Fireman Recruit in 1976. Since he would then be only 18 and of the lowest rank (E-1), it means that he got kicked out administratively before serving even a year.

What caused his early discharge? Perhaps his service record could hold some answers.

 

[Richard]

Bumping this unsolved and active double murder case up.

It seems that a number of potential suspects have been considered and investigated over the years.

Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr., confessed and convicted killer of the Lyon Sisters (Wheaton, Maryland 25 March 1975) seems a likely suspect. Welch was about 17 at the time and at some point worked as a traveling carnival employee. It is of coincidental note that early September is when many County fairs occur in Minnesota.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Bumping this unsolved and active double murder case up.

It seems that a number of potential suspects have been considered and investigated over the years.

Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr., confessed and convicted killer of the Lyon Sisters (Wheaton, Maryland 25 March 1975) seems a likely suspect. Welch was about 17 at the time and at some point worked as a traveling carnival employee. It is of coincidental note that early September is when many County fairs occur in Minnesota.

I tend to doubt Welch’s involvement. There were two carnivals operating in the area that weekend. One in Kimball at St. Ann’s church. I spoke with the owner of that carnival and he said he had a young man named Lloyd on his staff, but he was from Appleton, WI and was arrested for writing bad checks in the area that weekend. The other carnival was put on by a locally owned operator. There were actually two local carnival operators at that time, the other was idle for the weekend based on classified ads in the papers.