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Forty years, three murders and no answers in Franklin County cold case (Lawrence Journal World)
Franklin County saw previous triple homicide in 1973 (Topeka Capital-Journal)Gary Avery, now 63, was working the nightshift at the Lawrence Paper Company on March 27, 1973, when he received a call that his mother and brother were missing.
The bodies of Garys mother, Hazel, 60, brother Steve, 19, and family friend, Gary Longfellow, 23, eventually were found in the back of Hazels 1964 Chrysler, which was parked just off U.S. Highway 59 in Ottawa. The three had been shot to death, execution-style.
Police had no apparent motive or suspects, and few leads, in the triple homicide.
In the 40 years since, scores of investigators to no avail have taken a crack at solving the murder mystery.
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According to accounts from police and family members, Steve Avery was attempting to hitchhike from Iola to Lawrence, on Highway 59, the night of March 27, 1973.
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On the stormy night, Steves progress stalled, and he called his mother from a pay phone in Richmond, about 40 miles south of Lawrence.
Hazel, a local nurse who lived in the 600 block of Alabama in Lawrence, called Longfellow to accompany her on the trip because of the late night and stormy conditions.
They left about 10:30 p.m. Motorists reported seeing Steve walking along Highway 59 two miles north of Richmond, or perhaps south of Princeton near Central Heights Road.
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much more at the links above---
A resident who reported seeing a body in the car called the Kansas Highway Patrol to the scene on the morning of March 29.
Authorities learned the car had been there since at least 6:40 a.m. March 28. They narrowed down the time frame of the killings as having been between Midnight March 27 and 6 a.m. March 28.
All three victims were found fully clothed. Each had been shot more than once. Each died of a bullet wound to the head, fired at close range.
The Daily Capital reported Hazel Avery was found kneeling on the floor in the front seat on the passenger side, her head lying on the seat and one bloodstained hand reaching out to the side, as if to ward off a blow.
The newspaper reported the men were found seated facing one another at opposite ends of the rear seat, their feet intertwined and heads bowed.
It said the men looked as though they had been arranged in place after being shot.
No weapon was found, and nothing was stolen. The Daily Capital reported the Franklin County attorneys office ruled out robbery as a motive.
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