Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James P Freund #8

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Also the band thing wouldn’t really make sense to me in terms of cliques, etc. James was a high school baseball player. I was a choir and theatre nerd in high school, and most jock/athletic kids snickered at us. But then again, who knows? o_O
 
Still cannot believe that at long last these beautiful people have been identified!
Genetic Genealogy Used To Identify Pamela Buckley As Victim In 1970 Shooting
james-Freund-Sumter-Co-Sheriffs-Office.png

James Freund (credit: Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
Pamela-Buckley-Sumter-Co-Sheriffs-Office.png

Pamela Buckley (credit: Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
 
Ajaygee11 said:
No you did not imagine it, apparently by a “hermit living in the sticks nearby”.
Click to expand...

A Greenville paper had the best coverage, despite being hours across state to the northwest. That's where I saw the best compilation of old articles. One article described that the vehicle went down Locklair Road intending to go further but encountered a tall fence that prevented further travel. The vehicle then turned off Locklair into the dirt parking area of a tobacco hut. The murders occurred right there, alongside Locklair. We've seen those photos. The vehicle then backed out of the tobacco hut and sped back toward the Locklair intersection, turning left toward I-95.

That area of Locklair is now mostly barren. I've looked at many progression photos on Google Maps and other sources. Trees slowly disappeared. Most apparently cleared due to farmland. Others from disease. I drove the entire 1.2 miles of Locklair and spent more than an hour there, stopping many times. There were only two areas on Locklair that still resembled the one available photo from 1976, where you can see trees on both sides and a clearing at distant left. Those remaining areas provide an idea of what it would have been like in 1976 for a hermit living in the sticks.

I posted one of the videos on YouTube because it seemed more logical as the crime location, near the intersection. But this video below gives a better feel for "living in the sticks" off Locklair. I had trouble speaking and filming this video because the traffic noise was very loud, worse than it appears from the video. At one point you can see a white truck flash by the screen at right. I-95 is perhaps 30 meters away. But if you project this type of dense tree cover on both sides of the road backwards several hundred yards, that's what the area was probably like at the time of the murders. Locklair quickly peels away from I-95 in that area. It would have been simple for a hermit to be living in the sticks on top of soft pine needle cover. A perpetrator would have no reason to believe anyone was nearby:

 
The real question here is how did Pam and James meet each other. I will list several questions I’m going to try and figure out down below here:
  • When/where/how did James and Pam meet?
  • What extent of a relationship did James and Pam have?
The reason I didn’t list the question about motive is because I think it’s pretty simple: James and Pam were in a carjacking gone wrong.
IMO
 
I looked back at info from DN and it said that James and Pamela had eaten ice cream or fruit before they died. This means they would’ve either bought and eaten fruit or ice cream from 5:00-7:00 PM in August 8.
 
I'm at the head of the line when it comes to digging into a UID's possible ancestry and historical connections but something I've learned over the years is not to post everything I find... as it could be harmful or hurtful to those who loved these people. Or it could be the wrong info (as I've experienced, myself). Not everything we find is relevant. JMO
 
Awsi Dooger said:
A Greenville paper had the best coverage, despite being hours across state to the northwest. That's where I saw the best compilation of old articles. One article described that the vehicle went down Locklair Road intending to go further but encountered a tall fence that prevented further travel. The vehicle then turned off Locklair into the dirt parking area of a tobacco hut. The murders occurred right there, alongside Locklair. We've seen those photos. The vehicle then backed out of the tobacco hut and sped back toward the Locklair intersection, turning left toward I-95.

That area of Locklair is now mostly barren. I've looked at many progression photos on Google Maps and other sources. Trees slowly disappeared. Most apparently cleared due to farmland. Others from disease. I drove the entire 1.2 miles of Locklair and spent more than an hour there, stopping many times. There were only two areas on Locklair that still resembled the one available photo from 1976, where you can see trees on both sides and a clearing at distant left. Those remaining areas provide an idea of what it would have been like in 1976 for a hermit living in the sticks.

I posted one of the videos on YouTube because it seemed more logical as the crime location, near the intersection. But this video below gives a better feel for "living in the sticks" off Locklair. I had trouble speaking and filming this video because the traffic noise was very loud, worse than it appears from the video. At one point you can see a white truck flash by the screen at right. I-95 is perhaps 30 meters away. But if you project this type of dense tree cover on both sides of the road backwards several hundred yards, that's what the area was probably like at the time of the murders. Locklair quickly peels away from I-95 in that area. It would have been simple for a hermit to be living in the sticks on top of soft pine needle cover. A perpetrator would have no reason to believe anyone was nearby:

Click to expand...
I wonder if there is any written testimony taken from this hermit. Maybe finding these type of documents can help to have a clearer idea of what happened that day.
 
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[
Lexiintoronto said:
That’s part of what I found interesting. They both were reported missing in 1975, and were found murdered in 1976. And despite that gap in time, the police seem to know where they were headed.

I’m hoping Pamela and James kept in contact with some people in their lives after they were reported missing. (Friends not acquainted with their families, unaware they were reported missing.) And the police can now cross-reference information from both sides.
Click to expand...

That's the process. Once the names are known you find relatives and high school friends, etc., trying to piece together who they might have kept in touch with. Since these names have been known for weeks/months I'm sure plenty of that has already been done, likely from Matthew of the devoted website.

We have access to online sources. There may be other database also, like motel or campground records, or visitor books. Perhaps credit card records. This is a known time frame of December 1975 to August 1976.

James' side probably makes sense as best source because it's on the East Coast. I've driven that north/south route countless times on I-95, to the point you already know where to stop for lowest gas prices. Yes, the distances are considerable but when traveling it's gobbled up quickly. Multiple stops even if planning to cover 500-600 miles for the day. James apparently liked cars and racing. We know he may have been in Florida for a race during 1975.

Plus let's face it the guy likes to take the lead. If they were together as a couple in an area she was unfamiliar with, he probably suggested the destinations.
 
Awsi Dooger said:
A Greenville paper had the best coverage, despite being hours across state to the northwest. That's where I saw the best compilation of old articles. One article described that the vehicle went down Locklair Road intending to go further but encountered a tall fence that prevented further travel. The vehicle then turned off Locklair into the dirt parking area of a tobacco hut. The murders occurred right there, alongside Locklair. We've seen those photos. The vehicle then backed out of the tobacco hut and sped back toward the Locklair intersection, turning left toward I-95.

That area of Locklair is now mostly barren. I've looked at many progression photos on Google Maps and other sources. Trees slowly disappeared. Most apparently cleared due to farmland. Others from disease. I drove the entire 1.2 miles of Locklair and spent more than an hour there, stopping many times. There were only two areas on Locklair that still resembled the one available photo from 1976, where you can see trees on both sides and a clearing at distant left. Those remaining areas provide an idea of what it would have been like in 1976 for a hermit living in the sticks.

I posted one of the videos on YouTube because it seemed more logical as the crime location, near the intersection. But this video below gives a better feel for "living in the sticks" off Locklair. I had trouble speaking and filming this video because the traffic noise was very loud, worse than it appears from the video. At one point you can see a white truck flash by the screen at right. I-95 is perhaps 30 meters away. But if you project this type of dense tree cover on both sides of the road backwards several hundred yards, that's what the area was probably like at the time of the murders. Locklair quickly peels away from I-95 in that area. It would have been simple for a hermit to be living in the sticks on top of soft pine needle cover. A perpetrator would have no reason to believe anyone was nearby:

Click to expand...

I’m not sure what exactly you are referring to concerning “...living in the sticks on top of soft pine needles” but if you are saying this witness who heard the gunshots was homeless or camping or living outside I think that is probably wrong.
As a native South Carolinian I can say the phrase “living in the sticks” was and is a common way to say someone lives out in the country. Whether they had a ten room mansion or a one room plywood shack with an outhouse they would be “living in the sticks”.
I always took that report to mean simply that the guy who heard the gunshots lived near where they were shot.
If I have totally misunderstood your words, I apologize and no offense intended.
I always appreciate your interesting and perceptive posts.
 
Betty P said:
When I checked Ancestry for him, it looked like there was another guy with the same name and middle initial who was a few years younger. Lived in the same area, too.
Click to expand...
The yearbook photo of him, which is in the senior section of the 1964 yearbook, said a birth date of 1948, which would be a few years younger than James. But we know that this photo is him. It's on his page from the DNA Doe Project. The birthdate given on Ancestry is most likely a mistake. He's in the senior section of the 1964 yearbook, making his age a solid 18 and his birthdate in 1946. It also said that he played football, perhaps that's where the scars came from.
 
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