OH OH - Cindy Johnson, 16, Independence, 30 Oct 1977

[Betty P]

New attention to teen’s murder 40 years later: ‘I am not gonna stop fighting for her’


http://fox8.com/2017/05/04/new-atte...s-later-i-am-not-gonna-stop-fighting-for-her/

Cindy left her home in Garfield Heights, OH on October 30, 1977 with a group of friends to see a concert in Edgewater Park in Lakewood.

Her parents heard her return home later that night, but apparently she went back out. Her parents didn't hear her leave the second time. The next morning around 8:30 am, her body was discovered in a dumpster in Independence, OH, a neighboring suburb. She had been strangled with some kind of ligature.

Her sister, Marilyn, has convinced Independence police to re-open the case

Marilyn says a few years ago, she asked Independence police to re-open the case after people who knew Cindy began contacting her. The police have re-opened the investigation, but so far, they are no closer to finding Cindy's killer.

"Somebody had contacted me on Facebook and they said they couldn't get it off of their mind. They said they had to tell me, people that was with her that night wanted to let me know what they knew about what was going on," she said.

Marilyn has created a Facebook page to help solve her sister's murder

https://www.facebook.com/Justiceforcindyjohnson/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf

I hope they find justice for this young lady.

 

[0101ABA]

Unsolved homicide

​

Cynthia Johnson

• Case number: 2033
• Nickname or alias: Cindy
• Incident location: 7395 Riverview Road
  Independence, Ohio - Cuyahoga County
• Incident date: 10/30/1977 - 10/31/1977 (Approximate)
• Homicide date: Unknown
• Date of birth: 1/31/1961
• Gender: Female
• Race/Ethnicity: White
• Height: 4'09"
• Weight: 91lbs
• Hair color: Brown
• Eye color: Hazel
• Law enforcement agency: Independence Police Department

Details

Sixteen year old Cynthia Johnson left her residence in Garfield Heights around 7:00 p.m on 10/30/1977, and was found in a dumpster at a local business in Independence at 8:30 a.m on 10/31/77. Cynthia's death was ruled a homicide; strangulation by ligature.

http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/...ohnson-(23)&classname=Custom.ColdCaseDatabase

 

[Betty P]

The blog "Defrosting Cold Cases" has more information about Cindy

http://www.defrostingcoldcases.com/cynthia-cindy-marie-johnson/

She was meeting a man that night to go to the concert. According to her sister at the Fox8 News link, she went to the concert with a group of friends. The sister also says she's been contacted by "friends" who want her to know more about what happened that night

Cindy was fully dressed when found on top of an industrial waste container behind Titan Fastener Engineering Company.

Her family used to live in Red Star, WVa

LE twice questioned the man that Cindy was alleged to have met that night. He was a friend of her step-father. He supposedly had an alibi.

The latter bit of information is a bit unsettling. Why would a 16 yo girl want to meet a man who was a friend of her step-father? Did she tell her parents she was going out with friends, but met this man instead? If so, why are other friends of Cindy's now contacting her sister to say they want to give her more information about what happened that night?

I'm going to search for more news stories from back then for more information.

As info, the area where her body was found is part of the Cuyahoga Valley Natl Park now. If the address given is accurate, that portion of Riverview Rd is now closed, no buildings there. The warehouse may have been there in 1977, but it would still have been a remote, dark area. Were teens hanging out there having a late night Halloween party? Possible.

ETA: Here's a link to a story about her in the Beckley, WVa newspaper from Nov 4, 1977. The link is subscription only (Newspapers.com). It has the information about police questioning the friend of Cindy's step-father. He claims he never saw her that night. Was he not telling the truth or did she make up the story she told her friends about meeting him?

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

She was meeting a man that night to go to the concert. According to her sister at the Fox8 News link, she went to the concert with a group of friends.....That is confusing?? She was meeting a man that night to go to the concert/she went to the concert with a group of friends. .........

She went to the concert later on came home and then left again. The mother heard her come home but did not hear any sounds to indicate she left later after coming home.

Did she take the same things with her the second time when she left the first time? Like a purse or bag, house key etc . Was her bed used as if she was sleeping in it after returning home the first time? Or was it made as it was before she left the first time.......

The place she ws found was not far from home. And closer to home than the concert. Either the dumping ground was pre plain, Chosen as an afterthought, or she was already there and then killed and left there, or she was killed at home and driven there.

Seems to me it was a quick drop. Probably killed inside a vehicle at the site and left there.

But motive??? Why would someone want to kill this young girl??
Thrill kill?? Revenge??.......Thoughts??

Did the LEOs come to the conclusion she was NOT taken from the home after returning the second time?
And the mother said she heard her return home afterwards but not hear her leave again. Did she mean she heard the door open and close and footsteps and assumed it was her daughter. What did she mean by heard her return home.

What time did her friends drop her off after the concert?
Would that had been around 11 to 1am?

Does anyone have any photos of the house at the time of the crime?

 

[Betty P]

She was meeting a man that night to go to the concert. According to her sister at the Fox8 News link, she went to the concert with a group of friends.....That is confusing?? She was meeting a man that night to go to the concert/she went to the concert with a group of friends. .........

She went to the concert later on came home and then left again. The mother heard her come home but did not hear any sounds to indicate she left later after coming home.

Did she take the same things with her the second time when she left the first time? Like a purse or bag, house key etc . Was her bed used as if she was sleeping in it after returning home the first time? Or was it made as it was before she left the first time.......

The place she ws found was not far from home. And closer to home than the concert. Either the dumping ground was pre plain, Chosen as an afterthought, or she was already there and then killed and left there, or she was killed at home and driven there.

Seems to me it was a quick drop. Probably killed inside a vehicle at the site and left there.

But motive??? Why would someone want to kill this young girl??
Thrill kill?? Revenge??.......Thoughts??

Did the LEOs come to the conclusion she was NOT taken from the home after returning the second time?
And the mother said she heard her return home afterwards but not hear her leave again. Did she mean she heard the door open and close and footsteps and assumed it was her daughter. What did she mean by heard her return home.

What time did her friends drop her off after the concert?
Would that had been around 11 to 1am?

Does anyone have any photos of the house at the time of the crime?

Hi Mr TT, good to see you.

As for her coming home, then leaving again, I'm assuming at age 16 she had a curfew. Probably midnight or something. If she did come home and leave again, it sounds like she had previously arranged a rendezvous with someone, a person she had talked to that night or just before.

In 1977, Independence, OH probably had a smaller-sized police department. It sounds like they talked to everyone. They even talked to the mystery man who was the step-father's friend and followed up on his alibi. I'm still suspicious of that guy.

Plain Dealer Nov 1 article:

She wasn't identified at that point

Police chief said she had only been dead a few hours

Found by an employee emptying trash

Deputy Coroner: She had been strangled, but "not by hands"

No indication of sexual molestation

She was wearing a blue suede C.P.O jacket, blue pullover sweater with multicolored sleeves and waistband, blue jeans, knee high pink socks, yellow suede platform shoes.

Turquoise rings on both hands, silver bracelet on right wrist and metal choker necklace

Previous day's Plain Dealer said there had been a Yippie concert at Edgewater Park. Concert and rally celebrating the defeat of Mayor Ralph Perk.

Nov 2 Plain Dealer article

Cindy identified by her mother Pearl Volpe and brother Roy Johnson

Lived at 9157 Garfield Blvd, Garfield Hts

Deputy Coroner again says she wasn't sexually molested

Mother said she last saw her about 7 pm Sunday. She was going to walk down Garfield Blvd. to Turney Rd, where she was going to meet some friends. Police were questioning her friends.

No links for news stories, it's a paid site. Have to take off, but will search for more later.

 

[Betty P]

Here's a link to the newsbank.com web site with archives of the Plain Dealer articles. It's a paid site, if you want to search.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...B-12FEBEADE51A6F59@2443452-12FD660AC742C384@2

I found two more articles:

Nov 3, 1977

Police are stymied in Independence girl's death

Police twice talked to the 39 yr man who was a friend of Cindy's step-father who she told her friend she was going to meet. She told her mother she would be home by 11 pm, then walked down Garfield Blvd with a friend. The friend said Cindy told her she was going to meet the man at a parking lot at Garfield & Turney Rd. Cindy's friends said she had been with this man a couple of times before.

Cindy's friend said she turned and walked back home before they got to the meeting place. Cindy went on alone.

Nov. 4, 1977

Article states the Independence police released the man they had questioned in Cindy's disappearance. He passed a polygraph test and had an alibi.

Her name was mentioned in an article in Oct 25, 1978 along with a list of other cold case murders from the area.

The old news articles don't mention anything about her going to a concert at Edgewater Park that night. I wonder if her friends knew and were keeping that information from LE at the time. In the recent Fox 8 news story, her sister mentions her going to the concert with friends that night. I wonder if that's something that was revealed later?

Three possible scenarios:

1 She told the 39 yo friend of her father that she was going to the Edgewater concert with friends and he asked her to sneak out of the house later, after she returned home from the concert. Perhaps he feared someone would find out about their relationship and killed her.

2 She went to the concert with friends, met a stranger there and arranged to sneak out of the house later to meet him. They went somewhere secluded, where he killed her and dumped her body in the Cuyahoga Valley Natl Park. If a stranger, it would have been some kind of sociopathic predator wanting to do a thrill kill or was angry at being refused sex.

3 She went to the concert with her friends and they all arranged to sneak out after curfew for a party down by the CVNP. She was killed by someone in her group of friends.

I've talked to people who grew up in the burbs south of Cleveland and there were a number of places around present day CVNP that were popular for parking and partying back in the day.

I hope her friends come forward with more information. She was just a young girl, a sophomore at Garfield Hts High School. Sad to think her killer is still walking around.

ETA: Map from her home to the location where her body was found

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/739...4f0321dff!2m2!1d-81.6217871!2d41.429177?hl=en

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Hi Mr TT, good to see you.

As for her coming home, then leaving again, I'm assuming at age 16 she had a curfew. Probably midnight or something. If she did come home and leave again, it sounds like she had previously arranged a rendezvous with someone, a person she had talked to that night or just before.

In 1977, Independence, OH probably had a smaller-sized police department. It sounds like they talked to everyone. They even talked to the mystery man who was the step-father's friend and followed up on his alibi. I'm still suspicious of that guy.

Plain Dealer Nov 1 article:

She wasn't identified at that point

Police chief said she had only been dead a few hours

Found by an employee emptying trash

Deputy Coroner: She had been strangled, but "not by hands"

No indication of sexual molestation

She was wearing a blue suede C.P.O jacket, blue pullover sweater with multicolored sleeves and waistband, blue jeans, knee high pink socks, yellow suede platform shoes.

Turquoise rings on both hands, silver bracelet on right wrist and metal choker necklace

Previous day's Plain Dealer said there had been a Yippie concert at Edgewater Park. Concert and rally celebrating the defeat of Mayor Ralph Perk.

Nov 2 Plain Dealer article

Cindy identified by her mother Pearl Volpe and brother Roy Johnson

Lived at 9157 Garfield Blvd, Garfield Hts

Deputy Coroner again says she wasn't sexually molested

Mother said she last saw her about 7 pm Sunday. She was going to walk down Garfield Blvd. to Turney Rd, where she was going to meet some friends. Police were questioning her friends.

No links for news stories, it's a paid site. Have to take off, but will search for more later.

Thank you for your links and your visual map!! It was nice to see the house. And if you pull the knob to 2007 you can see what it looked like in October 2007. Thirty years to the month.

Dealing with teenagers at the time of this and reading and so forth can cause one a headache. There are conflictions in times, when things happened then. I am reading she left the first time at 7pm? But a friend on Facebook mentions that they were at the concert in the afternoon?? So it cannot be both? See below.
Sixteen year old Cynthia Johnson left her residence in Garfield Heights around 7:00 p.m on 10/30/1977
The concert was in the afternoon. I wàs with her from about the middle of the concert until just before it ended.


Pieces of her travel time is missing.\
We got a friend saying that they walked to meet a man. The friend left before reaching where the man was. Then we got Cindy at the concert in the afternoon, not knowing how she got there??Did she walk there.? After meeting the man, if she did, could she have walked to the concert from there to join her friends?.....DID she walk home? After leaving the concert.......WHAT time did the mother report hearing her return home that night but not hearing her leave later?

This is thinking outside the box. But just wanted to post it anyways. If I was to guess I would say she was killed between 3am and 4am on Halloween Morning. They mention she had been killed only a few hours early. So that would be my guess. The murder weapon used I assume they referring to something like that that was found on JBR. Something you could twist to tighten and let go to release the pressure. To me this was a sadistic thrill killing. A thrill kill. Death was not instant. But continue for awhile. Sorry to post that.

Depending upon the time she left the home the second time, I am guessing it was after 11pm?? Looking at your map its about 15 minutes or so, 7 some miles from where she lived and where she was found.

I would guess she was killed at the spot where found.

So at some point say after 11pm she comes home, makes noise in the house to let her mother, knw she is home by makeing noise. And thing some time after that she sneaks out they said and left with someone in a vehicle.


How did she get home the first time????Walked from the concert?? Dropped off?? The friend mentioned they smoke some pot for awhile and left there separate ways. So after arriving home that first time she probably was still under the influence of the pot.

Since she was found a few miles away we can assume she left the second time in a vehicle. Probably she may have left with someone she knew in some aspect/well or not so well, to go listen to some eight track music and perhaps smoke some more pot at the spot where she was found I am just guessing....... Chevy Nova or Vega!?

ADD ON 453PM
OK, just looked at a calendar. I thought it was a Friday or Saturday afternoon for the concert. Know I see it was a Sunday.
So the mother said she last seen her that Sunday at 7pm. So that means she came home after the concert around 7pm andd then left, snuck out later?????

For some reason I assume we was talking about her coming home late that night around 11pm or later and then leaving, sneaking out not long or some time after that.

ADD ON 2...
I just noticed she was killed on her Birthday morning. October 31 1961. It was her birthday.......Wondering if THAT had some reason why she left again...I will think about that.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

BER?........When you went your separate ways, was that around 5 or 6 pm that Sunday evening after the concert? And do you know, did she walk home and that is when the mother mentioned she last seen her around 7pm that evening?

Correction!!! In post number 7 add on 2 I mentioned it was her birthday. That was my mistake. I read her birthday as October 31st instead of January 31st. I apologize for that error.

 

[Jim_M]

I wonder if LE saved all the evidence? It would be great if they could run DNA tests, on whatever was used to strangle this child. I hate writing sentences like that. This young girl had so much future awaiting her. The person(s) responsible took all of that away from Cindy, and her family. I hope that karma has not treated the culprit(s) very nicely. JMO of course.

 

[Boomeroreo]

Was her family ever given a polygraph tests? I'm not saying that they had anything to do with her disappearance but. ...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[CastlesBurning]

Unidentified: More than 50 people’s identities still a mystery in Cuyahoga County, decades later

 

[SAV]

New attention to teens murder 40 years later: I am not gonna stop fighting for her


http://fox8.com/2017/05/04/new-atte...s-later-i-am-not-gonna-stop-fighting-for-her/

Cindy left her home in Garfield Heights, OH on October 30, 1977 with a group of friends to see a concert in Edgewater Park in Lakewood.

Her parents heard her return home later that night, but apparently she went back out. Her parents didn't hear her leave the second time. The next morning around 8:30 am, her body was discovered in a dumpster in Independence, OH, a neighboring suburb. She had been strangled with some kind of ligature.

Her sister, Marilyn, has convinced Independence police to re-open the case



Marilyn has created a Facebook page to help solve her sister's murder

Justice For Cindy Johnson.

New attention to teens murder 40 years later: I am not gonna stop fighting for her


http://fox8.com/2017/05/04/new-atte...s-later-i-am-not-gonna-stop-fighting-for-her/

Cindy left her home in Garfield Heights, OH on October 30, 1977 with a group of friends to see a concert in Edgewater Park in Lakewood.

Her parents heard her return home later that night, but apparently she went back out. Her parents didn't hear her leave the second time. The next morning around 8:30 am, her body was discovered in a dumpster in Independence, OH, a neighboring suburb. She had been strangled with some kind of ligature.

Her sister, Marilyn, has convinced Independence police to re-open the case



Marilyn has created a Facebook page to help solve her sister's murder

Justice For Cindy Johnson.

I hope they find justice for this young lady.

Hey! So according to Cindy's half sister, Cindy's mother and her argued before she left again that night around 7pm. Cindy's mother was well aware Cindy was going out and told her to be home by 11 PM. They did fight before she left because her mother was not fond of the idea of her going back out again. Cindy's best friend at the time, Terri Perchinske, walked with Cindy to 94th street which was two streets over from Cindy's home headed towards the parking lot that she was supposed to meet this "adult male friend".

 

[SAV]

The blog "Defrosting Cold Cases" has more information about Cindy

Cynthia “Cindy” Marie Johnson (Jan 31, 1961 – Oct 30/31, 1977) - Defrosting Cold Cases

She was meeting a man that night to go to the concert. According to her sister at the Fox8 News link, she went to the concert with a group of friends. The sister also says she's been contacted by "friends" who want her to know more about what happened that night

Cindy was fully dressed when found on top of an industrial waste container behind Titan Fastener Engineering Company.

Her family used to live in Red Star, WVa

LE twice questioned the man that Cindy was alleged to have met that night. He was a friend of her step-father. He supposedly had an alibi.

The latter bit of information is a bit unsettling. Why would a 16 yo girl want to meet a man who was a friend of her step-father? Did she tell her parents she was going out with friends, but met this man instead? If so, why are other friends of Cindy's now contacting her sister to say they want to give her more information about what happened that night?

I'm going to search for more news stories from back then for more information.

As info, the area where her body was found is part of the Cuyahoga Valley Natl Park now. If the address given is accurate, that portion of Riverview Rd is now closed, no buildings there. The warehouse may have been there in 1977, but it would still have been a remote, dark area. Were teens hanging out there having a late night Halloween party? Possible.

ETA: Here's a link to a story about her in the Beckley, WVa newspaper from Nov 4, 1977. The link is subscription only (Newspapers.com). It has the information about police questioning the friend of Cindy's step-father. He claims he never saw her that night. Was he not telling the truth or did she make up the story she told her friends about meeting him?

So, again, according to the police report that I requested under the FOIA from the IPD, Cindy was found INSIDE the dumpster. Supposedly, according to a friend who grew up in Garfield Heights in 1977, the kids would meet at the parking lot of Burger King which used to be at the corner of Turney and Garfield BLVD, and from there, they would all go to "The boathouse" which was an abandoned old boathouse that was once in use during the '20s. There, they would hang out, have a fire, drink, etc. According to an article from The Plain Dealer from November 1977, they did interview the stepfather's friend who was 39. He claims he knew nothing of meeting Cindy and had a solid alibi. The area around the building/dumpster where Cindy was found was wooded then and the boathouse was in a wooded area from what I understand. When Cindy was found in the dumpster, she was face up and had dirt all over her face which tells me that she was killed elsewhere, probably put in a vehicle, and dumped.

 

[SAV]

Was her family ever given a polygraph tests? I'm not saying that they had anything to do with her disappearance but. ...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

I believe the step father was given one, but her stepfather sadly had a traumatic brain injury as a child and was mentally unstable through adulthood, so the polygraph would not have been helpful either way and it's definitely not a good idea to give one to a mentally unstable person. He was the last person they should have been looking at. They had tunnel vision for him, or so I was told, and that really hindered the investigation where so many possibilities were there.

 

[SAV]

I wonder if LE saved all the evidence? It would be great if they could run DNA tests, on whatever was used to strangle this child. I hate writing sentences like that. This young girl had so much future awaiting her. The person(s) responsible took all of that away from Cindy, and her family. I hope that karma has not treated the culprit(s) very nicely. JMO of course.

The Independence Police Department moved buildings now and supposedly have lost over 57 affidavits as well as ALL of the evidence in her case. Frustrating is putting it nicely.

 

[SAV]

BER?........When you went your separate ways, was that around 5 or 6 pm that Sunday evening after the concert? And do you know, did she walk home and that is when the mother mentioned she last seen her around 7pm that evening?

Correction!!! In post number 7 add on 2 I mentioned it was her birthday. That was my mistake. I read her birthday as October 31st instead of January 31st. I apologize for that error.

So Cindy came back home around 4pm that afternoon where she and Terri, her best friend had hung out for a couple hours. Cindy and Terri then left around 7pm when Cindy stated she was going to meet an "adult male friend" in the parking lot of the Burger King at the corner. Terri walked with Cindy to 94th street about 2 streets over and then left and Cindy walked the rest of the way.

 

[Betty P]

The Independence Police Department moved buildings now and supposedly have lost over 57 affidavits as well as ALL of the evidence in her case. Frustrating is putting it nicely.

So Independence police are basically waiting for someone to come in and confess to the murder? It seems with their evidence missing, there's not much more they can use for a conviction. An alternative might be someone who witnessed the murder.

 

[SAV]

So Independence police are basically waiting for someone to come in and confess to the murder? It seems with their evidence missing, there's not much more they can use for a conviction. An alternative might be someone who witnessed the murder.

From what I understand, yes. BUT, according to family, they believe there is a group of people who know exactly what happened that night. I found out that there used to be a rough group of guys that would hang out at that exact spot. These guys were bad news. Rape, burglary, assault, you name it. They were bad, bad. The demographic for that hang out spot typically was 16-20 year olds. I have my personal theory about what I think happened, but it's just a theory. I was able to obtain the autopsy report and the initial police report. Cindy is one girl in a string of women from around that area that have been assaulted and/or murdered.

 

[Betty P]

From what I understand, yes. BUT, according to family, they believe there is a group of people who know exactly what happened that night. I found out that there used to be a rough group of guys that would hang out at that exact spot. These guys were bad news. Rape, burglary, assault, you name it. They were bad, bad. The demographic for that hang out spot typically was 16-20 year olds. I have my personal theory about what I think happened, but it's just a theory. I was able to obtain the autopsy report and the initial police report. Cindy is one girl in a string of women from around that area that have been assaulted and/or murdered.

Would it be possible for you to post a link or copy of the police report? TIA

Also, is this hang-out spot the place in Independence her body was found or the place she was meeting with her friend near her home?

 

[SAV]

Would it be possible for you to post a link or copy of the police report? TIA

Also, is this hang-out spot the place in Independence her body was found or the place she was meeting with her friend near her home?

I will not post the police report for public viewing, however, you can submit a FOIA request for it to the Independence Police Department and they will email it to you. The body was found in a dumpster of a business not far from the hangout spot. So, it was common for Cindy and other teenagers around the area when they wanted to go to the "boathouse", they would meet up at the Burger King parking lot, and then, they would all walk together to this hang out spot. That night, Cindy was headed for the parking lot of Burger King at the corner of Turney and Garfield BLVD with Terri, but from what I understand, Terri was grounded and was not able to go out hence why she only walked with her to 94th street before she left. There are things on the autopsy report that point to the murder taking place else where and then her body dumped in this dumpster.

Also, I, along with a research partner, have been heavily involved with solving the murder of Beverly Jarosz which occured in 1964; my profile picture is of her. It just so happens that Beverly lived and was murdered only a mile from where Cindy lived, 13 years before. Not related, but a massive coincidence. We were on Cleveland 5 News back in December for Bev's 60th anniversary of her death talking about our research and our new suspect we presented to the detective working her case. When you start researching missing, assaulted, murdered women (and girls) in and around Garfield Heights starting in the 50s to about the 80s, you start finding some eerie similarities.