PA PA - Heidi Morningstar, 12, murdered, Beaver County, 1976

[windmill]

I wanted to know what information is out there regarding the Heidi Morningstar case (quick video here:

) from 1976 in the town of Ambridge outside of Pittsburgh. I've pulled together a few old newspaper clippings but that's about it.

Brief synopsis: Young girl (age 12) disappears from her home in the middle of the night and is found dead the following day a few miles away. A few years later, alleged witness Pamela Wilfong (18~ at the time she came forward, now deceased) comes forward and claims *under hypnosis* that she was in the presence of Heidi when she was kidnapped and murdered by Paul Nazarovitch, Robert Whiteleather and William Decker. A few years later (1981), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rules that testimony given by a witness under hypnosis is not admissible in court because, well, it's hypnosis. The charges against the 3 men are dropped and the case remains unsolved to this day. (Com. v. Nazarovitch)

Is anyone here from the Pittsburgh area? Does anyone recall this case? Did anyone know any of the accused or the family members of the deceased?

This is obviously a horrible tragedy and a baffling mystery. What happened here? Were 3 innocent men set up by this girl and/or the police to take the fall for a murder they didn't commit? Were 3 guilty men set free because the prosecution thought hypnosis was a legit investigative tool? This whole case is beyond bizarre. If anyone can point me towards some first hand information sources on it - court records, transcripts, etc. etc. I'd love a chance to take a peek and see just what the hell was going on. Thanks.

 

[dotr]

April 29 2021

 

[dotr]

Heidi Morningstar - mystery death - Newspapers.com

1981
COM. v. NAZAROVITCH | 496 Pa. 97 (1981) | 496pa971582 | Leagle.com

 

[windmill]

Yes I have seen this as well as dozens of other articles. I'm not sure why this was printed and repeated. Maybe there was confusion? Maybe the newspapers were trying to make things seem more sinister than they really were? I don't know. But there was an accident.

 

[dotr]

Dec 3 2021
Beaver County offering “double” reward for information in cold case
''BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Beaver County and Pennsylvania Crime Watchers are offering a $10,000 reward for information in a 1976 cold case.

On Sept. 17, 1976, 12-year-old Heidi Morningstar disappeared from her home at 1514 Church St. in Ambridge. She vanished in the middle of the night while her parents were called away for a family emergency.

Her body was found on Sept 18, 1976 at 8:30 a.m. at 330 Shields Lane in Edgeworth.

No one was ever convicted in her murder.

The Ambridge Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Allegheny County Homicide Unit, Baden Police, and Beaver County DA’s Office - Detective Bureau all investigated the case and recently met to review it.

From Dec. 5 until Dec. 12, there will be a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

Pennsylvania Crime Watchers has already posted a $5,000 reward and Crime Solvers of Beaver County are matching that reward for the week.

Anyone with information is asked to call Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers (1-800-4PA-TIPS or 1-800-472-8477) or Crime Solvers of Beaver County ''(724-774-2000).

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
Increased reward offered for info on the murder of Heidi Morningstar
''Morningstar first went missing from her family’s Church Street home in Ambridge after 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 17, 1976. Her parents left the girl with her younger brother to help relatives clean up debris from a nearby car accident.

After returning at approximately 4:30 a.m., the Morningstar family noticed the kitchen door was open and their daughter was missing from the home. Investigators found a shopping cart and a removed window screen outside the house, as well as muddy footprint inside the house, which led police to believe the kidnappers used that route to break into the locked residence.

''More than 20 hours later, the investigation became a homicide case when Morningstar was found strangled in Allegheny County. On the morning of Sept. 18, Morningstar’s body was found in the yard of an Edgeworth borough home by waste management crews during a routine pick up. Morningstar’s hands had been bound behind her back and a bandana was found in her mouth.''

 

[windmill]

I saw this on the news. Great that it's getting some traction in local media. I hope it inspires someone to come forward. Unfortunately the case is so old a lot of people who might know something could be deceased.

 

[windmill]

Really great summary of the facts of the case here:

11 Investigates a murder mystery that has baffled investigators for more than four decades

Still has some traction in local news but don't know how valuable it will be.

 

[rob525]

This is a weird case. The witness needed a memory refresh in order to be clear whether or not she was with the victim and witnessed the murder? I guess with drugs involved it is possible but I think it is strange. My other questions would be. The first article says the grandmother called about an accident in front off her house (no mention of a grandson involved) at 2:00 am but the family leaves the house to go over there but there is no accident. The other article mentions that it may be their older son in an accident a few blocks away. Did grandma actually call? Did she think her grandson was in an accident in front of her house? If it was a few blocks away and they determined that their son was not involved, why did it take until 4:30 to get back home if it was just a few blocks?

 

[rob525]

Well that's weird. A few post s were removed. I wonder what exact time she was found by the garbage crew. The articles say "less than 24 hours" So if 17 September, 1976 was very early Friday morning. Does that mean the trash crew was out prior to 04:30 AM on Saturday? Or is it later in the day on Friday morning?

 

[windmill]

Right - What are the odds that a predator was walking on that street on that night in that specific time range and chose that specific house? Seems very targeted. The question is how and why?

Also regarding the discovery - I believe the garbage crew found the girl around 7-8am on Saturday morning during their weekend route. What kind of person kills another person (on accident or on purpose) and puts body in a place where it would be discovered almost immediately?

 

[rob525]

Right - What are the odds that a predator was walking on that street on that night in that specific time range and chose that specific house? Seems very targeted. The question is how and why?

Also regarding the discovery - I believe the garbage crew found the girl around 7-8am on Saturday morning during their weekend route. What kind of person kills another person (on accident or on purpose) and puts body in a place where it would be discovered almost immediately?

If the discovery was in fact Saturday morning, that would mean that whomever did it either had the girl or the girls body for an entire day. From 02:00 am -04:30 am on Friday to 07:00 am on Saturday would be like 27 hours time difference. Unless she was found at about that time later Friday morning?

 

[windmill]

No, the 27~28 hour time difference is correct. But you bring up a good point. Where would someone hide a body for that length of time? And then why take the risk of putting it on the front lawn of a mansion (for sale right now btw: 330 Shields Ln, Sewickley, PA 15143 | MLS #1529771 | Zillow) where it will obviously be discovered? Alternatively, where would someone go to hold this child against their will for that long without someone noticing? Very very odd all around.

 

[rob525]

No, the 27~28 hour time difference is correct. But you bring up a good point. Where would someone hide a body for that length of time? And then why take the risk of putting it on the front lawn of a mansion (for sale right now btw: 330 Shields Ln, Sewickley, PA 15143 | MLS #1529771 | Zillow) where it will obviously be discovered? Alternatively, where would someone go to hold this child against their will for that long without someone noticing? Very very odd all around.

That scenario somewhat coincides with what the hitchhiker said about seeing a hand under a tarp in the back of a truck later on the day of the abduction.. Could someone have ridden around with her in the back of a truck for that long? From my look at the street view it would seem that Shields ln. is somewhat secluded. Seems like whomever did this wanted the girl found. But to stop on a public street and carry a body into someone's yard and leave her there for all to see seems like an extremely bold move. I wonder if there were any connections between the victim and that address ever established?

 

[windmill]

The van and hitchhiker might very well be the key to this whole thing. Too bad the cops were chasing other leads. It would take an extremely bold person to drive around with a dead body all day AND stop to talk with some hitchhikers with the body in the back. Or maybe just dumb. Or maybe just on drugs. Shields is definitely a quiet tree lined street, but it's right off of Beaver which is the main road. The property owner was an affluent retired businessman named Charles Zug. I doubt that he would have had any connection to any thing.

 

[rob525]

So. There was an older brother of driving age ( the parents thought initially that he may have been in the car accident that caused them to leave the home that I night). Did they ever establish his whereabouts during all of this? The article say "older son", wonder how old? How many people could know that the parents were not home? Family and/or folks that knew them and saw them at the accident scene?

 

[windmill]

The older son was between 18-20 years of age. He lived in central PA although I'm not sure where he was specifically on the night of the incident. Because this seems like a very targeted crime I think you're right to narrow it down to who knew that the parents were gone. That would likely have been anyone in the building/neighborhood who saw them leave (although this was 2am so likely very few people), anyone who saw them at the scene of the accident (again, 2am, not many people) and anyone that they may have called before they left the house? I'm not sure if the police got phone records from them that night but that may hold a clue.

Also, behind the house, in the middle of that block was a playground. Apparently it was a hangout spot for wayward youths. A working theory I have is that someone out there saw the family leave, knew heidi would likely be alone and then committed the kidnapping. But again, there's not real evidence to support this. Just a theory.

 

[rob525]

The older son was between 18-20 years of age. He lived in central PA although I'm not sure where he was specifically on the night of the incident. Because this seems like a very targeted crime I think you're right to narrow it down to who knew that the parents were gone. That would likely have been anyone in the building/neighborhood who saw them leave (although this was 2am so likely very few people), anyone who saw them at the scene of the accident (again, 2am, not many people) and anyone that they may have called before they left the house? I'm not sure if the police got phone records from them that night but that may hold a clue.

Also, behind the house, in the middle of that block was a playground. Apparently it was a hangout spot for wayward youths. A working theory I have is that someone out there saw the family leave, knew heidi would likely be alone and then committed the kidnapping. But again, there's not real evidence to support this. Just a theory.

Seems like a solid theory. Would seem like it would have to be someone who was familiar with the family enough to know who was still home after the family left and had a vehicle to get Heidi away from the scene ( and later to the spot where the body was found.)

I still wonder who made the call about the accident. Also is there any chance that she left voluntarily even if she did not intend on being gone long.

 

[windmill]

True. The person or persons who took her may have been able to get her to leave the residence quietly with a ruse of some kind - pretending to be a cop or saying they're a friend of the parents. Or they may have had an previously unknown relationship with her and she trusted them.

The whole thing is totally bizarre and very different from other abductions in the area - Cherrie Mahan, Beth Lynn Barr, Stephanie Ann Boller. If memory serves me right these were all little girls walking on the side of the road during daylight hours. Something like that seems more opportunistic in nature. The fact that the person or persons who took Heidi Morningstar knew to go to her street, look in her building, enter her family's apartment on that night at the exact time the parents were gone doesn't sound opportunistic, it sounds highly targeted, making me think it was a person who either interacted with her or her family at some point, or had been stalking and observing her from nearby.

 

[mistletoenargle]

The article say "older son", wonder how old?

Was able to find older brother's obituary (Samuel V. Morningstar Obituary). Lists his high school graduation date as 1975 and DOB as 1957, making him 19 at time of murder, which lines up with him being old enough to potentially be in an accident/parents believing their son was in an accident.

This one's weird. Someone HAD to know or was keeping eyes on the house.