PA PA - Michelle Farr, 6, Allentown, 6 Mar 1980

[Hoopsticks]

6 year old Michelle Farr, a first grader at Jefferson Elementary School, disappeared while walking home from a grocery store. Reports indicate she left the Highway Superette at 7:25pm on Wednesday, 06 March. Items she purchased(a loaf of bread and luncheon meat) were found scattered along Rye Street, a dimly lit alley that locals claimed kids tended to use as a shortcut.

Shortly before 11:30 the next morning, two fisherman found Michelle's fully clothed body floating in the northeast section of Lake Nockamixon, near the intersection of Routes 563 and 412 in Bucks County, roughly 20 miles away from where she was last seen.

Michelle's stepfather, Richard Hertzog, was initially questioning hard by authorities and given a polygraph, which he claims to have passed. Police at the time did not confirm or deny this. The previous month, his wife Betty Ann Herzog filed a protection from abuse order against Richard and ordered him out if the house, after it was alleged he broke his two year old daughter's arm in two places on January 29th of that year. He maintained his innocence in Michelle's abduction and death, and no charges against him were filed.

Source: Michelle Farr Page 1 - Newspapers.com

Michelle Farr Page 2 - Newspapers.com

 

[Kell1]

Always start with t the victim and work outwards, profile the victim first to see if theres anything surrounding the victim that might shed light on why they were killed etc..

Id say the breakup of a marriage to a violent man who seriously injured a child before , within that family and with the lack of sexual assault, warrants a deeper look

Cause of Death ?

 

[Hoopsticks]

Always start with t the victim and work outwards, profile the victim first to see if theres anything surrounding the victim that might shed light on why they were killed etc..

Id say the breakup of a marriage to a violent man who seriously injured a child before , within that family and with the lack of sexual assault, warrants a deeper look

Cause of Death ?

Cause of death was listed as anoxia, with the coroner suggesting either suffocation or strangulation being likely. Anoxia seemed a weird term; did asphyxia kinda take the place of that term?

The girl's windbreaker was found in Allentown some time later, as well. Unfortunately, the woman who found it washed it before realizing it belonged to the murdered girl. Which. . . God dammit.

 

[Kell1]

Cause of death was listed as anoxia, with the coroner suggesting either suffocation or strangulation being likely. Anoxia seemed a weird term; did asphyxia kinda take the place of that term?

The girl's windbreaker was found in Allentown some time later, as well. Unfortunately, the woman who found it washed it before realizing it belonged to the murdered girl. Which. . . God dammit.

Protocols, Anoxia is a medical term meaning theres evidence of lack of tissue perfusion, the manner may be suffocation, or strangulation, etc...

Its like when they say cause of death "cardiac arrest"manner of death "homicide"and the victim was shot , of course their heart stopped , but they have protocols to follow

 

[mistletoenargle]

May be a stretch considering 18 years between the crimes, but possible link between this case and Carol Dougherty?
PA - PA - Carol Dougherty, 9, Bristol, 22 Oct 1962

Both were young girls, MF was found in Bucks County and CD was from/found in Bucks County.

 

[Hoopsticks]

May be a stretch considering 18 years between the crimes, but possible link between this case and Carol Dougherty?
PA - PA - Carol Dougherty, 9, Bristol, 22 Oct 1962

Both were young girls, MF was found in Bucks County and CD was from/found in Bucks County.

Interesting. Dougherty's killer died just 2 months after Farr was abducted and murdered. Fairly certain with the recent scrutiny on him, there's been an attempt to build a timeline for him. Not a bad idea, considering his sex offense 10 years after the Dougherty murder.

 

[rob525]

Oh man! I know it was 1980, but, sending a six year old to the store at 7:15 at night? Early March it would be dark outside before she ever left the house. And a child that was seemingly afraid of the dark. And the step father is ordered out of the house for three months yet one month later he is back? That being said, the step father would have had to almost immediately follow the girl out the door in order to commit this crime. It seems she left the house at 7:15 and left the store around 7:25: Doesn't seem likely he would have done this unnoticed by the rest of the family. I will look up temperatures and sunset times for that date. - It was around 39 degrees at 7:15 and sunset looks like to be around 6:00 - 6:30?