NJ NJ - Lisa McBride, 27, Vernon Twp, 23 Jun 1990

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Lisa McBride, 27, of the Highland Lakes section of Vernon Township, N.J. She was last seen alive June 23, 1990, as she walked into her house. Her skeleton was found Oct. 6, 1990, in Sandyston Township, N.J., near the Delaware River.
 
I was hanging around Vernon, NJ at this time and I've wondered about this case since the day the missing flyers went up. Nothing huh?
 
I always had the impression - based on where the body was found - that the perp was from out the 739 area. He didn't know Sussex co to well. Ironically Lisa's brother had a house up 739 so I thought it may have been a neighbor from that area.
 
I always had the impression - based on where the body was found - that the perp was from out the 739 area. He didn't know Sussex co to well. Ironically Lisa's brother had a house up 739 so I thought it may have been a neighbor from that area.

What makes you think the perp didn't know Sussex County to well?
 
Is there any information on this case online? I can't seem to find anything. All of my searches are coming back with a Lisa McBride Harper that was murdered but I can't find any information on Lisa McBride.
 
What makes you think the perp didn't know Sussex County to well?

He chose a very easy spot to dump her. Within 5 miles of that spot is probably 100 better areas to conceal a body that would also not have been trampled on when hunting season began - which is how she was found, by a deer hunter.
 
are you able to copy and paste that article? the link won't work.
 
are you able to copy and paste that article? the link won't work.

The link works.

If you want to read the articles in full length, then you must subscribe and pay for each individual news article. I am not a subscriber, so I just copied and pasted the free part of the stories. It was the only news info on this old case that I could find.
 
He chose a very easy spot to dump her. Within 5 miles of that spot is probably 100 better areas to conceal a body that would also not have been trampled on when hunting season began - which is how she was found, by a deer hunter.


Unless the killer wanted her to br found. It seems to me that some killers want the publicity?
 
I was not aware that the spot Lisa's body was recovered from was easy or obvious. My understanding is that it was a fairly remote area. It's a shame the authorities could not push their investigation a little harder. I suppose the dna technology was not yet evolved in 1990. I think the person(s) responsible for her death will be caught.
 
Lisa mentioned in this article from last year, sounds like the police have a lot of info and the case is still open, tho I doubt it in anyway active.


Few who lived here at the time can forget the case of Lisa McBride, the popular and well-liked 27-year-old woman who lived in Highland Lakes. An executive secretary at a local bank, she was last seen alive on June 27, 1990, when she had gone out to a concert with friends and never returned. The exhaustive search for the missing woman consumed the citizens of Sussex County for months in the summer and fall of that year. Local and State Police and the F.B.I. worked the case, and over 400 people were interviewed and 850 leads followed, all to no avail.

Sadly, the search for Lisa McBride ended on Oct. 6, 1990, when a passing hunter found her naked and decomposed body, nearly a skeleton, in the woods way out near the Old Mine Road in Sandyston Township. Forensics indicated that she had likely died the night she disappeared. No cause of death has ever been revealed No arrest or conviction was ever made in the case, which remains open and active. Lisa McBride's case fills two filing cabinets at the County prosecutor's office.

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/communit...ugh_Vernon.html?page=all#sthash.zk2ON64i.dpuf
 
I don't know when this article was written and you might have to do a google search to read it if the link doesn't go directly there.


"Police still search for McBride killer, case dates back to 1990"

http://www.njherald.com/story/13537324/police-still-search-for-mcbride-killer-case-dates-back-to-1990

George McBride regrets that his daughter's killer was never found but he and his wife appreciate everyone's efforts. They are glad their daughter's case is still being investigated, but they have not set their hopes too high.

"We don't feel it's going to be solved after all these years but you never know," Norma McBride said.

Despite the loss of their daughter, her presence is still with the family, especially during holiday gatherings. "Lisa's not here, but we're thinking of her," Norma McBride said. "She's definitely not a forgotten person."


13537324_BG1.jpg
 
Hello all. I am new to Websleuths, but I grew up in Vernon and remember this case well. My opinion has always been that whoever kidnapped and killed Ms. McBride knew the area well and took the most direct route from Highland Lakes to Pike County, PA. If he dumped her body in a convenient area, I think it is because he was in a hurry. Having already spent some time in her home (she was seen entering the house) and then driving all the way across Sussex County, the killer probably wanted to get rid of her body ASAP. As he neared the Dingmans Bridge, which has an attendant 24 hours a day, he would have wanted to get rid of the body so the attendant would not see it. I wonder if the investigators ever interviewed the person who was working the bridge crossing the night she went missing...

Since nearly the entire population of this area in the early 1990s was Caucasian, I would guess the killer was a Caucasian male. The cause of death has never been published, but I would be curious to know whether this was more likely a very "personal" killing (e.g., up close, such as strangulation) or less personal (like a gunshot). I would also wonder whether there may have been rage involved, such as multiple stab wounds, that might indicate a personal connection between victim and perpetrator.

Lisa McBride was abducted from her home in Vernon (Highland Lakes area) in the early hours of Sunday, June 24, 1990. Highland Lakes is a community with a lot of houses that are pretty close together, so the odds of someone "randomly" choosing her house are slim. Therefore, I think this person may have been watching Ms. McBride and/or watching her house over a period of time. It's possible that she walked in on a robbery in progress. Since she was killed and transported about 30 miles, her killer must have had a car nearby. I don't know the specific location of her home, but it is possible that she was in one of the more rural parts of Highland Lakes, and a car could be parked nearby without being seen.

I'm not in law enforcement or in any way a "professional" at this sort of thing, so the above is just my speculation based on my knowledge of the area and what I have read about this case and logically deduced.
 
Old Mine Road in Sandyston, NJ, is very remote. It runs parallel to the Delaware River, and even in 2016, there are only a handful of houses along that road.
 
Having given this some more thought overnight, and having read a few more news articles to refresh my memory, I concluded that Lisa McBride may have been the victim of sexual assault, since her body was found naked.

I realize that the science of forensic DNA analysis was still in its infancy in the early 1990s, but I wonder what trace evidence may have been found at the crime scene. I'm assuming no trace evidence was present on her remains after three months in the woods. If nothing stood out at the crime scene, were there signs of forced entry? If nothing stood out and it appeared there was no forced entry, maybe she knew her attacker and willingly let him in? And if he was someone known to her, someone who may have dumped her body on his way home to Pike County, PA, could he have been a friend of her brother's? Could her death have been a horrible accident? (The police have never released her cause of death. Were they even able to determine it?) It seems that someone who rapes and murders someone willfully might be likely to re-offend, but if it was an accident, the killer might be someone living with overwhelming guilt all these years, who may never have committed another crime.

I read in a news article that the police had investigated hundreds of leads, and I'm sure they did everything they could at that time. I just think maybe someone - a "fresh pair of eyes" - should take another look at the evidence, which purportedly fills two filing cabinets in the Prosecutor's office, according to one media report.
 
I dated a man in the 90's that has lived in Sandyston his whole life and was/is very familiar with the back woods of that area. He had a thing for near death asphyxiation during sex that I didn't share and we parted company because of it...

Reading this thread made me think of him immediately.
 
I dated a man in the 90's that has lived in Sandyston his whole life and was/is very familiar with the back woods of that area. He had a thing for near death asphyxiation during sex that I didn't share and we parted company because of it...

Reading this thread made me think of him immediately.

Virgil Rome, a detective who was on the case from the very beginning, put out a letter in 2015 to the public urging anyone with information to submit a tip.

http://www.njherald.com/story/29424883/lisa-mcbride-murder-case-still-open-after-25-years#//
 
I wonder what happened to her clothing. Reports make no mention of finding her clothes (were her clothes still at her house?) Investigators said they looked for her purse and keychain with her nickname, “Weesa”, engraved, but did not mention if they found her clothes. They did say that her purse and keychain were never found. This, along with no mention of forced entry (at least not to the public), makes me think she knew the person. If she was last seen coming home at 2am by a neighbor, and investigators state her body was likely left on the road soon after she disappeared, it does not leave much time for the murder to take place. According to google maps, it is about an hour and twenty minute drive from her house to where she was found. I think whoever murdered her was familiar with the area of both where she lived and where she was found. He would have had to “b-line” to the desolate road to go undetected, in my opinion.

Her mother stated in a report she does not think her daughter’s case will be solved. Though, the investigators still remain hopeful and the case is still open.

http://www.njherald.com/story/13537...ch-for-mcbride-killer-case-dates-back-to-1990
 

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