PA PA - Wendy Eaton, 15, non-family abduction, Media, 17 May 1975

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Quote from The Arizona Republic, Saturday, April 1, 1978, "Massachusetts, LA slayings probed for link" (from UPI):

Baverhill [sic, Haverhill, Massachusetts] Police have still not identified the body of a girl, estimated to be 16 years old, found May 24, 1975, floating in the Merrimack River.
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I can't find anything else anywhere online about the unidentified body in the Merrimack River. Is the article erroneous? Has she been identified? Could that be the body of Wendy Eaton? If the article is accurate, maybe the murderer of the girl in the Merrimack River was also the murderer of Denise Cochrane, 11, who was last seen alive in Brockton, MA, the day before.

The article was about Essex County D.A. John TS Burke investigating possible links between the Hillside Strangler and four Boston area murders involving girls and young women who were raped and strangled. The three others who were murdered were said to be prostitutes in the Boston "Combat Zone" adult entertainment district. They were Kathleen Ann Williams, 16, Holly Ellen Davidson, 22, and Melodie Stankiewicz, 26.
 
ladycathryn said:
I only just found this site. Wendy was a good friend of mine and I've never forgotten her. It's good to see that others remember her too.
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Thank you for joining & welcome aboard.
I would love to get your take on the rumors that she was seen with a cult a few months after she went missing. Please feel free to share anything that you may know about this case. Thank you!
 
Alleykins said:
Thank you for joining & welcome aboard.
I would love to get your take on the rumors that she was seen with a cult a few months after she went missing. Please feel free to share anything that you may know about this case. Thank you!
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I remember those rumors. If I recall correctly, and I'm pretty sure I do, law enforcement eventually checked out the cult and were presented by another girl who had a similar appearance to Wendy. They couldn't determine if whoever reported seeing her had seen this other girl and mistaken her for Wendy, or if the cult were keeping Wendy out of the public view by answering any questions about her with this girl instead.

However, I knew Wendy through a church group and she and I were pretty good friends. I think I'd have known if she had any leanings that would make her material for a cult. I didn't believe it at the time, and I still don't. I continue to believe, as I have done all along, that whoever reported it was mistaken and had seen the other girl. It seems pretty far-fetched that they would be willing to display one girl and not another.
 
Richard said:
Did you report it to police at the time? Do you recall anything about him or his car?
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I did not report it to the police. I never told anyone until I was an adult. I thought perhaps I was being silly and overreacting, but as an adult, I can clearly see I was not. At the urging of friends here i did once send an email to the state police cold cases group. Never heard back.

I remember what he looked like and I remember the car, heck I can even tell you what I was wearing. He was black and an adult (younger than 35, older than 20) and had a medium sized afro and aviator shades and I think he was wearing a brown jacket. The car was orangey brown, with a half vinyl top and large. Maybe like a Ford LTD or similar. In that 70's sort of dated orangey brown color.

I was walking down Orange Street from either Front or Jasper when he stopped and offered me the ride. I ran to the corner of 3rd and Orange because I had to stop before crossing to check for traffic. That is where he yelled at me for running and I screamed at him. I ran to school. There wasn't anyone available to tell, or perhaps I would have.

Please teach your children to yell and fight. It clearly worked for me.
 
Wow.

I was surprised at the number of articles on Wendy at Newspapers.com here's a bunch including a three-parter - a peculiar item, a bust of Wendy!!!

Delaware County Daily Times, Chester, PA, January 15, 1976


.......................................................


This article mentions the FBI:


Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia, PA, June 13, 1975


....................................


The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 1990


Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


......................................................................


An extortion attempt from Wendy's father:


Delaware County Daily Times, Chester, PA, January 7, 1976


All are PDFs and on my webhost so they should be legible...
 
ladycathryn said:
I believe she accepted a ride with someone, willingly or unwillingly, who killed her and hid the body so well that it's never been found, or possibly was found but not identified.
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Her Charley Project page stated she had spoken to a friend earlier that day and told them she was going to the store. Was that you, by chance?
 
Alleykins said:
Her Charley Project page stated she had spoken to a friend earlier that day and told them she was going to the store. Was that you, by chance?
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No, it wasn't me, but I know who it was. She was a mutual friend of Wendy's and mine and after Wendy was reported missing, she talked to me a lot about how guilty she felt that she hadn't gone with Wendy.
 
ladycathryn said:
I believe she accepted a ride with someone, willingly or unwillingly, who killed her and hid the body so well that it's never been found, or possibly was found but not identified.
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When a body is hidden, it often means that there was a connection between the murderer and the victim. Were there any men who had expressed interest in Wendy whom she had rebuffed?
 
No, I don't remember anything like that. Wendy and I went to different high schools; I didn't know everyone she knew; we knew each other from church. But remember, she was 16. How many 16 year olds, even today, have grown men interested in them? And do you think another 16 or 17 year old could manage to hide a body so well that it's stayed hidden for over 40 years?
 
ladycathryn said:
No, I don't remember anything like that. Wendy and I went to different high schools; I didn't know everyone she knew; we knew each other from church. But remember, she was 16. How many 16 year olds, even today, have grown men interested in them? And do you think another 16 or 17 year old could manage to hide a body so well that it's stayed hidden for over 40 years?
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BBM
Absolutely, if that 16- or 17-year-old (or 18-year-old or 19-year-old...) happened to be a calculating psychopath. However, luck often stands in skill's stead. Wemdy's body may not have been found, but that doesn't mean that it was hidden well.
 
Family lived very close to the Eaton's when this happened. Case has always haunted me. Occurred to me recently (and another poster mentioned it) that perhaps someone saw her sunbathing? It is possible to theorize that this person subsequently saw her leave her home on foot to head into Media and took her? What were the chances that someone just randomly happened upon her? Possible? Sure. I wonder if police talked to the neighbors back then. Did anyone living there at the time have a record? Have they racked up one since?

AD74
 
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