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Lengthy article.
New York State Police decline outside help from docuseries team in 1985 unsolved murder of Kristin O’Connell
Aug. 14, 2021
By Andrea Cavallier
Kristin O'Connell and her parents, Phyllis and Mike O'Connell. Photo provided by family.
''When 20-year-old Kristin O’Connell asked if she could travel to New York to visit a young man she had met while on Spring Break in Florida months earlier, her mother’s first instinct was to say no.
But Phyllis O’Connell knew deep down that her only daughter wasn’t a child anymore. She was nearly 21. And she was sensible. Responsible. Phyllis told Dateline that despite her misgivings about the trip, she realized she had to let her go.''
''The Burnsville, Minnesota native had just completed her sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin Stout in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, where she had been studying Hotel and Restaurant Management.''
"It was on that trip that Kristin met a young man named James “Jim” Vermeersch - and was charmed by him from the moment he approached her. The two developed a friendship and it wasn’t long before he invited her to visit him in Ovid, New York.
Kristin and Jim stayed in touch and just before the start of her junior year, made plans for her to travel from Minnesota to New York and stay at his parents’ house. Again, Kristin’s mother was hesitant.''
''Kristin had only been in New York for two days when she called her mother from a payphone and told her she was cutting her trip short.
“Something wasn’t right in her voice,” Phyllis told Dateline. “I asked if she was having a good time, but I should’ve pressed harder.”
That same night, Kristin disappeared.
According to the New York State Police, Kristin was at a party at the mobile home where Jim was living on County Road 139, just west of the Golden Buck Restaurant, in Ovid.
Witnesses told police that it was around 11:30 p.m. when they saw Kristin walking down County Road 139, heading west. She was not wearing shoes or carrying a purse.
The next morning, when Kristin failed to return to Jim’s house, he called her parents and the police to report her missing.''
''On August 16, their worst fears came true. A search party found Kristin’s naked body in a nearby cornfield, less than a quarter of a mile away from the trailer where she had been staying. Her clothes were in a pile nearby.
Kristin had been stabbed multiple times, and her throat had been slashed, according to an investigation by the New York State Police.''
"There are 318 pieces of physical evidence in this case, which includes the victim’s bloodstained sweater and pants, a pillowcase, a painter’s hat, the victim’s fingernails containing unidentified fibers, and a couple of hundred hairs, two of which were found near her pubis. Kristin’s investigation is hampered by a lack of time and a lack of money."
''Anyone with information about Kristin’s case is asked to call the New York State Police Troop E, Major Crimes Unit, at (585) 398-4100''
New York State Police decline outside help from docuseries team in 1985 unsolved murder of Kristin O’Connell
Aug. 14, 2021
By Andrea Cavallier
Kristin O'Connell and her parents, Phyllis and Mike O'Connell. Photo provided by family.
''When 20-year-old Kristin O’Connell asked if she could travel to New York to visit a young man she had met while on Spring Break in Florida months earlier, her mother’s first instinct was to say no.
But Phyllis O’Connell knew deep down that her only daughter wasn’t a child anymore. She was nearly 21. And she was sensible. Responsible. Phyllis told Dateline that despite her misgivings about the trip, she realized she had to let her go.''
''The Burnsville, Minnesota native had just completed her sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin Stout in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, where she had been studying Hotel and Restaurant Management.''
"It was on that trip that Kristin met a young man named James “Jim” Vermeersch - and was charmed by him from the moment he approached her. The two developed a friendship and it wasn’t long before he invited her to visit him in Ovid, New York.
Kristin and Jim stayed in touch and just before the start of her junior year, made plans for her to travel from Minnesota to New York and stay at his parents’ house. Again, Kristin’s mother was hesitant.''
''Kristin had only been in New York for two days when she called her mother from a payphone and told her she was cutting her trip short.
“Something wasn’t right in her voice,” Phyllis told Dateline. “I asked if she was having a good time, but I should’ve pressed harder.”
That same night, Kristin disappeared.
According to the New York State Police, Kristin was at a party at the mobile home where Jim was living on County Road 139, just west of the Golden Buck Restaurant, in Ovid.
Witnesses told police that it was around 11:30 p.m. when they saw Kristin walking down County Road 139, heading west. She was not wearing shoes or carrying a purse.
The next morning, when Kristin failed to return to Jim’s house, he called her parents and the police to report her missing.''
''On August 16, their worst fears came true. A search party found Kristin’s naked body in a nearby cornfield, less than a quarter of a mile away from the trailer where she had been staying. Her clothes were in a pile nearby.
Kristin had been stabbed multiple times, and her throat had been slashed, according to an investigation by the New York State Police.''
"There are 318 pieces of physical evidence in this case, which includes the victim’s bloodstained sweater and pants, a pillowcase, a painter’s hat, the victim’s fingernails containing unidentified fibers, and a couple of hundred hairs, two of which were found near her pubis. Kristin’s investigation is hampered by a lack of time and a lack of money."
''Anyone with information about Kristin’s case is asked to call the New York State Police Troop E, Major Crimes Unit, at (585) 398-4100''
