OH OH - Judy Martins, 22, Kent, 24 May 1978

[Debbie Miller]

I found a William J. Posey Jr. in Rosswood, Oh.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Just a quick update on this case. I have long suspected that William Posey was involved in Judy's disappearance. He lived in Kent, Ohio at the same time she vanished, less than ten minutes away from campus. He has abducted other women whose bodies have never been found.

William Posey is terminally ill in a Federal prison in North Carolina. He was found guilty of kidnapping a woman in Vermont, but he never admitted to killing her, and her body was never found.

Mr. Posey recently confessed to murdering that woman, and attempted to direct law enforcement to where he dumped her body. However, his directions were not adequate enough to lead them to the body.

Apparently due to his failing health, he is trying to "make amends" in some manner. Because of this, I have written a letter to Mr. Posey asking him to clear his conscience regarding Judy Martins if he was the one who abducted her. I doubt I'll get much of a response, since he has never been charged with any crime concerning Judy's disappearance. But it's worth a shot, and if I get any word from him at all, I'll post his response here.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I have not received a reply from William Posey to the letter I sent him a couple of months ago. I still strongly believe he is the man responsible for Judy's disappearance.

I plan to send a second letter to Mr. Posey and see if I can get a response from him. Since his health is poor, I am not even sure if he is capable of responding.

I'll keep at it and will post my results, if any, as they occur.

 

[tatertot]

I don't have anything to add to this thread except I've read about Judy and thank you for pursuing this! I hope Mr. Posey responds.

 

[Debbie Miller]

I went to the FBOP site and searched for his name as an inmate, and it shows his name and info, but you can't click on it. I am wondering if he has passed away, since he was terminally ill.

 

[Marilynilpa]

The last time I checked, which was about two weeks ago, William Posey was still alive. He has not responded to my letter, which doesn't surprise me. At this point, I have very little doubt that he is the one who abducted Judy Martins. He was there at the time, living a short distance from the university campus, and his M.O. is identical - he abducted young women, killed them and hid their bodies so well that they were never found. In addition to Judy Martins, I've found at least two other cases that I feel might also be linked to William Posey. Unfortunately, given the state of his health we may never know the truth abou these cases unless he decides to come clean at the last moment.

If I hear anything from Mr. Posey, I'll certainly post it here.

 

[MaryLiz]

The last time I checked, which was about two weeks ago, William Posey was still alive. He has not responded to my letter, which doesn't surprise me. At this point, I have very little doubt that he is the one who abducted Judy Martins. He was there at the time, living a short distance from the university campus, and his M.O. is identical - he abducted young women, killed them and hid their bodies so well that they were never found. In addition to Judy Martins, I've found at least two other cases that I feel might also be linked to William Posey. Unfortunately, given the state of his health we may never know the truth abou these cases unless he decides to come clean at the last moment.

If I hear anything from Mr. Posey, I'll certainly post it here.

Thanks for the update. I'm sorry William Posey hasn't responded to your letter. You would think he would want to clear his conscious as he nears the end of his life. I am also convinced he is responsible for Judy's disappearance. Everything fits. I'd be interested to hear the info on the other cases you have found that might be linked to Posey.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I need to find my notes about the other cases, but they involved young women who just vanished in Ohio around the time Judy vanished. As soon as I can find them, I post them here.

 

[dsells516]

I found this site unexpectedly while searching from information on my childhood friend, Judy Martins, Avon Lake OHIO. I not only went to school with her through High School, but we all had mutual friends who hung out together. We were all fast friends.

Recently, I reconnected with someone that was her best friend in High School and a good friend of mine. We graduated from H.S. in 1973. We all knew of her disappearance and were stunned.

We know her body was never found nor any trace of her. She did have a boyfriend in her last year of High School and went on to college with him for a little while, but their relationship changed and he became very difficult to deal with. We also know that some time after her disappeance, this young man was in a serious motorcycle accident that left him both physically and somewhat mentally disabled. I have not been able to find him nor where he is, however I believe I still have a picture of the two of them at a wedding we attended.

The family always believed that nothing was done to really search for her. Suggesting that she left on her own, however, they did not really begin any search until several days after she went missing. In addition, because of the nature of Kent State at that time (shootings, etc.) the school did not want anything distracting people from coming to school there. Reputation was important. The family even brought in a psychic to see what they could do. They were heartbroken. We all were.

Judy was not the type to run away. She was the life of the party, always good with everyone and had many friends. The records on file, if they still have them, might indicate the poor way in which the whole thing was handled.

I've spent many years trying to uncover more details without success and continue to try to determine what happened. If anyone can help me find more information or want more information, please email.

Thanks.

 

[MaryLiz]

I found this site unexpectedly while searching from information on my childhood friend, Judy Martins, Avon Lake OHIO. I not only went to school with her through High School, but we all had mutual friends who hung out together. We were all fast friends.

Recently, I reconnected with someone that was her best friend in High School and a good friend of mine. We graduated from H.S. in 1973. We all knew of her disappearance and were stunned.

We know her body was never found nor any trace of her. She did have a boyfriend in her last year of High School and went on to college with him for a little while, but their relationship changed and he became very difficult to deal with. We also know that some time after her disappeance, this young man was in a serious motorcycle accident that left him both physically and somewhat mentally disabled. I have not been able to find him nor where he is, however I believe I still have a picture of the two of them at a wedding we attended.

The family always believed that nothing was done to really search for her. Suggesting that she left on her own, however, they did not really begin any search until several days after she went missing. In addition, because of the nature of Kent State at that time (shootings, etc.) the school did not want anything distracting people from coming to school there. Reputation was important. The family even brought in a psychic to see what they could do. They were heartbroken. We all were.

Judy was not the type to run away. She was the life of the party, always good with everyone and had many friends. The records on file, if they still have them, might indicate the poor way in which the whole thing was handled.

I've spent many years trying to uncover more details without success and continue to try to determine what happened. If anyone can help me find more information or want more information, please email.

Thanks.

dsells, Welcome to Websleuths. Thanks for your personal comments about this case. This is one of the cases I follow and I don't think I ever read that about Judy's high school boyfriend. That's very interesting.

There is already a thread on Judy here at WS. Maybe the mods could merge this thread with the other one.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51675&highlight=Judy+Martins

Thanks again for your interesting post.

 

[Cubby]

bump ..

 

[Mr. E]

From this new information, I wonder if the police ever thought about the boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?). Is there a possibility that he did something to her? Would he have had the opportunity? Maybe he wanted to get back together with her and she said no. Who was the last person to see Judy? Had she received any phone calls prior to her disappearance?

It saddens me that LE just swept this all under the rug. I feel like a crime has been committed, and the people who are supposed to care did everything in their power to ignore it.

 

[Marilynilpa]

From this new information, I wonder if the police ever thought about the boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?). Is there a possibility that he did something to her? Would he have had the opportunity? Maybe he wanted to get back together with her and she said no. Who was the last person to see Judy? Had she received any phone calls prior to her disappearance?

It saddens me that LE just swept this all under the rug. I feel like a crime has been committed, and the people who are supposed to care did everything in their power to ignore it.

From what Judy's sister told me, LE had it in their minds early on that Judy had left on her own. This is partly due to the fact that someone saw a woman closely resembling Judy at a garage sale, and she said she was leaving town. However, that look-alike woman came forward and told police that it was she who was at the garage sale, and not Judy.

Judy's family went to extraordinary lengths on their own to find her. They followed every clue, no matter how remote. Her brother event went to bars where someone had reported seeing Judy working as a prostitute! Her sister told me of trips her parents made to different areas where they looked for signs of a body. I cannot imagine the torment this poor family went through.

As to whether or not the boyfriend was ever considered a suspect, I do not know. What I do know is that the police file on this has been destroyed, which I find astonishing.

I have a theory on who is responsible for Judy's disappearance - please read my earlier posts regarding William Posey, who had the opportunity (and the experience) for committing this crime.

 

[blade]

Hi,

I was a Resident Assistant with Judy and knew her quite well. She was dressed in a Halloween costume when she disappeared. Not so long ago,
I was in contact with a KSU police officer and when I asked about the case, I was told that it was still open and the officer was not allowed to comment.

Blade

 

[Marilynilpa]

Hi,

I was a Resident Assistant with Judy and knew her quite well. She was dressed in a Halloween costume when she disappeared. Not so long ago,
I was in contact with a KSU police officer and when I asked about the case, I was told that it was still open and the officer was not allowed to comment.

Blade

Blade, I sure would like to know who you spoke to about this. I spoke to a man whose last name was Peach (don't have my notes in front of me, but I think his first name might be James). He told me this case was closed, and the files had been destroyed. If that info is not correct, I would certainly be interested in talking to someone about Judy.

I was a senior in college in 1978, and feel like Judy could have been any one of my friends, or even me. I'm glad you took the time to post your message.

I don't know how it was at Kent State, but where I went to college we really felt safe on campus and weren't as careful as we were in the "real world". If a car had pulled up next to me on campus and the driver asked for directions, for instance, even late at night I probably would not have hesitated to approach it. That's what I think happened with Judy - she was called over to a car on some pretext and taken at that point.

I am still firm in my belief that this abduction and murder (although she wasn't ever found) was perpetrated by William Posey. He committed at least three similar crimes, and is currently dying in prison. He was convicted of one abduction/murder, and last year confessed to another one. He is suspected of at least one more abduction/murder in which the body was never found.

I am going to ask a question that I don't mean to be disrespectful or judgmental in any way, I'm just keeping in mind the time in which this happened. Do you know if Judy ever smoked marijuana? The purpose of asking this is that William Posey posed as a drug dealer in one of his abductions - a young woman went up to his car ostensibly to purchase a small amount of marijuana, and that's how he abducted her.

 

[dsells516]

The answer is yes, Judy did occasionally imbibe (we all did back then). Once at KS, I can't answer for sure. If would be a relief for the family that's left to know where her body is. We all would. Judy was a dear friend and the last pictures of us all together was the summer of 73 at a wedding.

 

[Marilynilpa]

The answer is yes, Judy did occasionally imbibe (we all did back then). Once at KS, I can't answer for sure. If would be a relief for the family that's left to know where her body is. We all would. Judy was a dear friend and the last pictures of us all together was the summer of 73 at a wedding.

Thanks, dsells516, for your honest response. I assumed as much, since I'm about the same age as you guys.

I wish her body could be found, also. If William Posey is her murderer, her body most likely was dumped near a highway exit ramp. That was his m.o. He confessed last year to one of his abduction/murders and told LE where he dumped the body - near an exit ramp - but due to the passage of time no remains were found.

The morning after her disappearance, Posey drove for no apparent reason to Columbus, OH, so he could have dumped Judy's body anywhere between Kent State and Columbus.

What a sick, perverted man.

 

[ALHS75]

I was and am a good friend of Judy's younger sister. In fact, I lived at there house in 1975, the year I graduated HS. Judy was away at college by then, but I knew her all through Junior HS and HS and remember always wanting to be like her. She was a beautiful, bright, warm-hearted person with a promising future. She came from the best of families. Her parents were warm loving people who would do anything for their kids, and they always made me feel welcome in their home where there was a lot of laughter, acceptance, and always an understanding ear. I often wished I belonged to their family. When Judy disappeared, I had moved away and rarely saw them, but I know that losing her caused terrible devastation to the whole family. It's such a shame that she was never found and that her parents never experienced that sense of closure before they died. Her surviving sister and brother I'm sure would also benefit from that closure. I will always remember her bright smile and beautiful laughing eyes that invited everyone into her heart. She was a rare gem.

 

[lyoung]

My brother is the one mentioned who dated Judy for many years. He was and is one of the kindest, gentlest, finest people on earth. She saw that in him. He was devastated when she went missing.

Judy spent a lot of time in our home. Being four years younger, I admired everything about her. She was warm, kind, wise and so beautiful. She always spent time with me and we've all missed her so much. Thinking about her suddenly, 23 years later (which happens from time to time) made me google her name. I was so surprised to see all this information about her.

I would love to see any pictures MaryLiz has. My brother was indeed in an accident. He was hit by a car in 1979. He has suffered through more than most, and it started with losing someone he loved. Whoever hurt her seriously damaged more lives than anyone can imagine. She touched so many of us.

 

[JeannieC]

Just a quick update on this case. I have long suspected that William Posey was involved in Judy's disappearance. He lived in Kent, Ohio at the same time she vanished, less than ten minutes away from campus. He has abducted other women whose bodies have never been found.

William Posey is terminally ill in a Federal prison in North Carolina. He was found guilty of kidnapping a woman in Vermont, but he never admitted to killing her, and her body was never found.

Mr. Posey recently confessed to murdering that woman, and attempted to direct law enforcement to where he dumped her body. However, his directions were not adequate enough to lead them to the body.

Apparently due to his failing health, he is trying to "make amends" in some manner. Because of this, I have written a letter to Mr. Posey asking him to clear his conscience regarding Judy Martins if he was the one who abducted her. I doubt I'll get much of a response, since he has never been charged with any crime concerning Judy's disappearance. But it's worth a shot, and if I get any word from him at all, I'll post his response here.

I realize this is an old post but just thought I would ask. When I saw the Name Willam Posey it struck a bell. A Willam Posey was involved in the Jeffrey McDonald investigation and there was another one I had heard of in another area of NC.

Are any of these the William Posey you are looking for?

Name Register # Age-Race-Sex Release Date Location
1. WILLIAM POSEY II 14937-075 43-White-M 07-10-2023 CANAAN USP
2. WILLIAM JOHN POSEY 01707-082 64-White-M 04-19-2011 BUTNER FMC
3. WILLIAM LEE POSEY 5801-062 58-White-M 10-10-1989 RELEASED
4. WILLIAM ROBERT POSEY 11849-074 58-White-M 03-10-1992 RELEASED