Montgomery County Police have had this open, unsolved murder case on their cold case list for 49 years.
MCP has never named a suspect publicly, but have probably considered a number of potential persons.
A highly suspicious potential suspect is convicted murderer Fred Howard Coffey. Jr. He was employed at the time by the VITRO corporation, which had offices and parking lots immediately across the street from the K-Mart store area where Kathy was found.
The walking route she most likely took passed through, or adjacent to both VITRO parking lots early that evening.
This abduction and murder took place midway between two other crimes Coffey committed against young teen aged girls in the Norfolk, Virginia area. He was later convicted of molesting three children, and of murdering a 10 year old girl. He has been named by LE as the primary suspect in the murders of a 5 year old girl and an 8 year old boy.
When newspapers reported that Kathy was still alive and in hospital, Coffey immediately left town without notifying his VITRO employer. Only after subsequent newspaper accounts stated that Kathy died without regaining consciousness did Coffry resurface, asking VITRO to send him his last paycheck. He claimed that he left town suddenly because his wife and daughter had been involved in a serious accident in Kentucky - on outright lie.
