Found Deceased NC - Donna Emmel, 15, Newport, 16 June 1975

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Strangulation death of teen girl found in ditch near North Carolina home remains a mystery

The bubbly, blonde-haired 15-year-old from Newport, North Carolina was outgoing and fun-loving, but didn’t care much for makeup or dresses. Instead she preferred to wear cutoff shorts and wasn’t afraid to get dirty.
Donna’s short life ended when she was murdered on June 16, 1975. Her body was found the next day in a drainage ditch across the road from her home in Newport.

Beverly told Dateline they have given all the information they know to police, but feel they have hit a dead end. The family considered paying for a private investigator or having Donna’s body exhumed, but never had the money to do so.

As another year marks the anniversary of the 15-year-old girl’s murder, her remaining family members are hopeful that the NC SBI will do all they can to solve Donna’s case.

“I wanna know why her? Why Donna?” Beverly said. “She had her whole life ahead of her. She didn’t deserve this. It’s past time for her to get justice.”

Anyone with information that may help solve Donna’s case is asked to call the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at (919) 662-4500.

 

[dotr]

by: Mekaela Muck Jul 12, 2023 rbbm

Cold Case Files: Newport teen found dead in ditch in 1975 murder

NEWPORT, N.C. (WNCT) — On June 16, 1975, 15-year-old Donna Emmel spent a quintessential summer day at Grice’s Grill. Donna was described as an outgoing tomboy. She preferred cut-off sho…

www.wnct.com

''Donna was officially reported missing the night of June 16.

Donna’s little brother told Emily that he had seen his sister on the path home that night with an unknown man.

The search for Donna ended the next day, June 17, when police found her body in a drainage ditch on Easy Street across from the Emmel home. The autopsy of her body showed that she died by strangulation and that she had not been sexually assaulted. Police told Emily that the killer had placed Donna’s body in the ditch after the murder, believing that she was killed somewhere else.''

“I never saw her, of course, but my Aunt Emily did,” Beverly told Dateline. “I’ll never forget what she said – that it looked like Donna had been carefully placed in the ditch like she was being put to bed.”

.......
''The sheriff’s office had a particular suspect they paid a lot of attention to. Stationed at Cherry Point was a US Marine named Gregory Allen. He hung around Grice’s Grill often as the military base was close. Police spoke to Allen once in 1975 and decided to let him go. He returned to his home in Wisconsin shortly after.

Allen ended up arrested for sexually assaulting a woman in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the 1990s. His DNA had been placed in a database when he was convicted and this connected him to another case, a rape of a woman in 1985.''

'When police in Newport heard of Allen’s arrest, they told the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin they believed he had something to do with Emmel’s murder. However, Allen was uncooperative, resulting in the questioning being dropped.''

''Anyone with information that may help solve Donna’s case is asked to call the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at (919) 662-4500.''

 

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Gregory Allen - North Carolina Suspect

Clipping found in Green Bay Press-Gazette published in Green Bay, Wisconsin on 11/15/1995. Gregory Allen - North Carolina Suspect

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