GUILTY FL - Amy Hurst, 29, murdered, New Port Richey, 29 Aug 1982

[CarlK90245]

The Doe Network:
Case File 401UFFL http://doenetwork.org/cases/401uffl.html
NamUs UP Case 1268 https://identifyus.org/cases/1268

Reconstruction of Victim

Unidentified White Female

* The victim was discovered on September 5, 1982 in Gulf of Mexico, Florida
* Skeletal Remains
* Estimated Date of Death: August 29, 1982

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 26 - 35 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 4'8" - 5'3"; circa 110-113 lbs
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair. Healed fractured/broken nose. Would have resulted in nose being slightly angled to the right. She had previous injuries to third and fourth vertebrae. Pierced ears.
* Dentals: Available. The victim had extensive dental work done during her life.
* Clothing/Jewelry: The victim was wearing a pair of blue jeans labeled New York Jean Company, a white blouse, and white bra labeled Montgomery Ward (size 34B). Three blue plastic bracelets were found on her left arm and two silver-turquoise rings were located on her left hand and she wore a beaded necklace. She was wearing a silver Cameo ring on her right hand.
* Fingerprints: Available
* DNA: Available

Case History
On September 5, 1982, the skeletal remains of an unidentified white female was located by the U.S. Coast Guard Anna Maria Island, approximately 27 miles North Northwest of the Longboat Pass in the Gulf of Mexico.
The body was wrapped in a green bedspread and a beige-brown-orange afghan. A white-colored rope was tied around the body at the chest and waist. Suspended from the waist was a single concrete block. Upon closer examination of the body, evidence of blunt force trauma was discovered on the back of the decedent's skull.

 

[CarlK90245]

Susan Diane Wolff Cappel
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/cappel_susan.html

Although there are a few discrepancies (height and age), and their chins don't look the same, Susan caught my attention because she has a healed broken nose that skews to the right, just as the UID does.

I had set this aside thinking it probably wasn't her, and the healed broken noses on both the MP and UID was just a coincidence. But when I looked back at this case, I saw that DoeNet provides a link to the following article about this case from the St. Petersburg Times:

http://www.sptimes.com/News/062201/news_pf/SouthPinellas/Body_raises_specter_o.shtml

The article states that authorities saw a possible link between this UID case and three other murders committed by convicted killer Oba Chandler.

Of interest is the fact that all three of his other victims were from Ohio (Just as Susan is).

I'm still a little doubtful because of the discrepancies, but after reading the article I decided that at least this should be put up here for discussion.

 

[CarlK90245]

After researching about Oba Chandler, it turns out that his three victims from Ohio were vacationing in Florida, and since he was also from Ohio, he used that as a pretext to initiate a conversation with them.

It looks like this too may be just a coincidence, because there is no apparent connection between Susan and the other three victims. The three women came across Chandler by happenstance.

BTW, I just realized that I saw the Chandler case a few months ago profiled on Investigation Discovery (ID) channel.

 

[Charlie99909]

Oba was a real for what he did to that poor family. The broken nose would be a good enough starting point. What about the rest? Her weight and height? Are they in the ball park?

 

[Cymro]

Weight and height are close (3lbs below weight and 1" above height), which isn't that troubling given partial decomp.

Age is below the range (19 vs 26-35) which is slightly more cause for concern, but not conclusive.

Location and circumstances are what get me though. While the suspected killer and victim are both from Ohio, there's nothing else to tie them together. There's a five-month discrepancy in timeline and some evidence that Wolff was killed in a custody dispute. While Chandler was in Florida at the time, he lived in Orlando - so not all that close - and he may have been in prison.

I don't buy the idea that she was scared away by threats of violence against her son; if the threats were credible enough to keep her away even after the presumed threatening people were killed in a car crash, why would they not just have killed her? They'd have less to lose by killing her than her son, it seems.

However none of the story makes sense - and if all stories about unidentified bodies made sense, they'd probably not be unidentified bodies at all. So yeah, it could be a match.

 

[mketchens]

The Jane Doe had given multiple births, site does not say that but the Detective working the case did. The remains were sent the the University of Florida when it was discovered that it was not the body of another girl and since then the remains have been lost.

 

[CarlK90245]

The Jane Doe had given multiple births, site does not say that but the Detective working the case did. The remains were sent the the University of Florida when it was discovered that it was not the body of another girl and since then the remains have been lost.

It's outrageous that they can be so careless with human remains.

BTW, I believe that the other girl was Wendy Huggy.

 

[summer_breeze]

http://www.baynews9.com/article/new...ed:-Remains-identified-as-missing-Pasco-woman

By Melanie Snow, Reporter
Last Updated: Friday, July 22, 2011

PASCO COUNTY -- A body found in 1982 has been identified as a New Port Richey woman who disappeared that same year.

 

[CarlK90245]

Here's the side-by-side:

The perp must have been thinking by now that had made a clean-getaway. Not saying the hubby is guilty, but he has a lot of 'splainin to do.

 

[webrocket]

from the article:

The body had been wrapped in an afghan with a rope tied around her waist and tied to a cement block.

Even though the body had not been identified, the cause of death was ruled homicide by blunt force trauma.

you think the cement block was not indicative of homicide?

 

[Redwood146]

Here's the side-by-side:

The perp must have been thinking by now that had made a clean-getaway. Not saying the hubby is guilty, but he has a lot of 'splainin to do.

I am thinking that too......

 

[mysticrose]

Missing Woman's Body Identified After 30 Years


In 1982, 29-year-old Amy Rose Hurst, a New Port Richey resident, was reported missing by her family in Michigan. Three months of phone calls went unanswered, and the only explanation from her husband, William, was that she left him.

Three months earlier, fisherman stumbled across the body of a woman 27 miles off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Her body was wrapped in an afghan, and a rope tied around her waist was attached to a cement block.

http://newportrichey.patch.com/articles/missing-womans-body-identified-after-30-years

 

[CarlK90245]

The afghan is going to be a key piece of evidence. If the afghan came from within their home, as is suggested, then it would suggest that she was killed inside her home. But that by itself would not be good enough to prove anyone's guilt.

It will be interesting to see if similar cinderblocks can be found on the property where they lived. Perhaps the block was left over from the construction of a wall on the property, and if so, there's a decent chance that the wall is still there.

 

[Kat]

I'm so glad this man had a chance to find his Mother. Doe Network is amazing for what they provide.

From mystic's link.

Eventually, she said, deputies told her to stop calling. They would call if they found anything.

oof.

 

[Kat]

How far was it from her home to where she was located? TIA

 

[CarlK90245]

How far was it from her home to where she was located? TIA

The body was found about in the Gulf of Mexico, 27 miles northwest of Longboat Pass (i.e., the entrance to Tampa Bay). It's impossible to triangulate the distance from New Port Richey given just that info, but I would guess that the body was about 50 miles Southwest of New Port Richey.

Tampa Bay FL - Google Maps

 

[teedie2]

LE is going to Michigan to talk to the family, but that doesn't mean that her ex-husband is a suspect, does it? Are the whereabouts of William, the new husband, known?

She certainly was a beautiful young woman. What a shame.

 

[TobyWong*]

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/police-arrest-man-in-29-year-old-cold-case-murder-of-his-wife

arrest made!!

 

[KateB]

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/husband-found-guilty-of-wifes-murder-30-years-later

Posted: 04/05/2013 By: Julie Banovic
(WXYZ) - It took the jury less than three hours to convict William Hurst for killing his wife three decades ago and dumping her body in the Gulf of Mexico.
...
After Hurst was found guilty he was sentenced to life in prison.

more at link

 

[KateB]

This was posted in Wendy Huggy's Missing thread earlier this week:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wendy-huggy-amy-hurst-missing-could-florida-cold-cases-be-connected/
Fateful Connection
A determined detective haunted by the case of two women missing for 30 years is hot on the trail of a killer
2014 Mar 15

Produced by Tom Seligson
More than 30 years after Amy Hurst and Wendy Huggy disappeared, Detective Lisa Schoneman is about to make an arrest. She's tracked her suspect from Florida to Michigan, finally hitting pay dirt in the backwoods town of Dawson Springs, Kentucky -- and her fugitive knows she's there.

48 Hours episode on the search for Wendy Huggy that led to the exhumation and subsequent identification of Amy Hurst and then shows a clip of the interview with and the arrest of William Hurst. Amy's family is interviewed. Doe Network gets mentioned.

Wendy is still missing.