Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - #6

[Fukiyama]

Consider:

In the mid 70s, you give a ride to a guy and a girl to the next gas station or maybe you notice they are around town for a week before they move on. ~Forty years later, IF you happen to discover them on the Web, how much will you really remember about them?

In the last five years, my dad was visiting and we took a drive out into the country. Along the highway, we picked up a hitchhiker and gave him a ride to the next intersection. There was some conversation and he talked about maybe writing a book about his travels once he got home. That one detail is all I remember about him. I couldn't tell you anything about what he looked like or even if we learned anything about where he was from.

Unless Mystery Couple stopped somewhere and /really/ made an impression...

 

[internetgirl101]

Hi everyone! I'm pretty sure someone may have already brought up Stephen Packard and Linda Lovell as possible matches, and I'd like to bump that idea up. I don't believe they've been ruled out. Some of the similarities I've noticed include beauty marks on both women's faces, on the cheek and under the nose. They also have the same bottom lip. They say Jock doe had scars on his back, as if he played a contact sport, and Stephen was a big beautiful lacrosse player with scars on his back. A few other details match up too. For example, If the ring initials were stamped like a monogram with the last name in the middle, that would make sense if his father or grandfather had the initials j.f.Packard (jPf).

 

[Tulessa]

Hi everyone! I'm pretty sure someone may have already brought up Stephen Packard and Linda Lovell as possible matches, and I'd like to bump that idea up. I don't believe they've been ruled out. Some of the similarities I've noticed include beauty marks on both women's faces, on the cheek and under the nose. They also have the same bottom lip. They say Jock doe had scars on his back, as if he played a contact sport, and Stephen was a big beautiful lacrosse player with scars on his back. A few other details match up too. For example, If the ring initials were stamped like a monogram with the last name in the middle, that would make sense if his father or grandfather had the initials j.f.Packard (jPf).

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It's a good theory, but I'm not seeing it. Too many differences in the eyes, lips, teeth, nose, and even eye brows. Just my IMO though. This case really stumps me.

 

[Tighthead]

Scars on the back make me think of rugby, back when you could ruck the player of the ball with your boots. Rugby is very popular in Argentina, which has long been considered a possible home country. It's also possible they were from France, not Quebec, where it is popular in the southern parts of the country.

 

[Brainy]

Hi everyone! I'm pretty sure someone may have already brought up Stephen Packard and Linda Lovell as possible matches, and I'd like to bump that idea up. I don't believe they've been ruled out. Some of the similarities I've noticed include beauty marks on both women's faces, on the cheek and under the nose. They also have the same bottom lip. They say Jock doe had scars on his back, as if he played a contact sport, and Stephen was a big beautiful lacrosse player with scars on his back. A few other details match up too. For example, If the ring initials were stamped like a monogram with the last name in the middle, that would make sense if his father or grandfather had the initials j.f.Packard (jPf).

Good theory but I don't see it either. Lovell and Packard do not look like our Does... not even close. There are numerous differences in their physical features.

 

[Sweetluv]

Definetly a good find, but with both the male and female, I'm not seeing it as far as the nose and eyes go. I'm really puzzled when it comes to these two. I believe they were killed on a sun night? Was any events going on that weekend in SC?

 

[reasonableguess]

Definetly a good find, but with both the male and female, I'm not seeing it as far as the nose and eyes go. I'm really puzzled when it comes to these two. I believe they were killed on a sun night? Was any events going on that weekend in SC?

They literally rolled up the streets and went to bed after Sunday church in Sumter back then. Church, dinner, church, bed.


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[carbuff]

They literally rolled up the streets and went to bed after Sunday church in Sumter back then. Church, dinner, church, bed.


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Apparently there was an ice cream stand open.

 

[Brainy]

The sad part is that there isn't and wasn't a system back in the day that could help locate those who were reported missing outside of US. Even if there was, there is no guarantee that they were ever reported missing. I have always been to a belief that they were traveling, they never contacted their family and they may have assumed they didn't want any contact... Or that their families were involved in their deaths. Either way, very sad and disheartening...


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[carbuff]

I agree they were probably traveling.

They might have been from overseas; the Montreal olympics brought many thousands of visitors from all over the world and many many of them stayed to see the sights of Canada and the US. (I remember massive traffic jams in Yellowstone Park; you had to wait in line just to get a parking spot to see Old Faithful.)

1976 was also still in the era of bumming around the country. You good get a week-long bus pass for Continental or Greyhound that would let you go anywhere in the US for around $75. You could still hitch a ride to most anywhere, and truck drivers were still giving rides. A couple of hundred bucks would buy you a used Kawasaki motorbike (as one of my friends did) or a beater of a car that would get you to somewhere. People would get short term work to pay for a tank of gas, or they'd panhandle or shoplift to get food (Google the song "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo")

Since they were found only a very short distance from one of the major north-south highways, it seems likely. If they were middle-class kids, they might have a bit of money on them--which might have been enough to tempt someone to robbery. A motorbike and some cash might have seemed worth stealing, and if they fought back or something, that might have pushed it into violence.

 

[Sweetluv]

Back in the 70's, did the military provide good dental care, like what our john doe would have had?
Also, if they were traveling, maybe these jewelry pieces worn by him were picked up at a second hand shop.

 

[Sweetluv]

Must have been more than one killer in the car with them other than the driver because they could have made a break for it or overpowered the driver. Anyone know if they assume to have been shot in the back or front first?

 

[Sweetluv]

With the extensive dental work john doe had, maybe this was due to injury. Car accident or contact sports possibly ,this would support the scarring he had.
What would prevent a young, nice looking well groomed couple from being ID since 1976? I think they were involved in something heavy. Maybe why no one is coming forward.

 

[Triss]

I think they were foreigners and that's why their families failed to find them. I'd imagine it wasn't easy to stay in contact back in the 1970s, especially if the couple was travelling around the continent. Perhaps their families have no idea the couple decided to visit the United states and that would explain why nobody looked for their loved ones there.

 

[Sherwood Park]

Your theory makes me think of the man they had questioned about the shooting. He is the one they matched the gun to. If I remember correctly, he passed the polygraph, but did not do well with certain questions leading police to believe that while he might not have killed the couple, he likely knows something.
I'm a bit too busy right now to find the quote and article with this information. When I do I will post it. I think someone else has already posted it in the past as well.

 

[scmom]

Link to info about the man who had the gun.

https://calebandlindapirtle.com/mystery-of-the-sumter-county-does/

 

[wannabeasupersleuth]

Just a guy I stumbled across who's missing from Montreal since '73. Says he possibly joined a religious cult in the US or India.
Richard Riquier
https://www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/missing-disparus/case-dossier.jsf?case=2013000069&id=22

 

[Bit of hope]

Just a guy I stumbled across who's missing from Montreal since '73. Says he possibly joined a religious cult in the US or India.
Richard Riquier
https://www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/missing-disparus/case-dossier.jsf?case=2013000069&id=22

A long time ago I suggested him too. At the time I also thought he could be Jock Doe. Looking at his post-mortem, Jock Doe seems to have a gap between his front teeth, Richard seems not to have (although it's hard to see in his pic)

 

[Sweetluv]

The matchbook found it his pocket...why would he still have that on him if it was from another state...I mean, if he didn't wash his pants thats one thing, but to carry it around I wld imagine he smoked..So the cigs were taken by the killer when he was searching for a wallet, but not the jewelry? I don't think it was robbery..think he wanted the ID/drivers license. Or,smokes were left in car, but where is the vehicle? If ice cream theory is true, one of them had cash.

 

[Sweetluv]

They were transported down a secluded rode, would assume person knew area. 2 people in a car with the killer behind the wheel..they cld have overpowered him while he was driving. Unless they were tied up...already dead..or more than one killer.