Do the police know who took the Springfield 3?

[Tuffgong]

This case is so fascinating, I think maybe the most fascinating case there is. And I know many have posted their theory on who did it or what they think happened. However, being a so-called active investigation, the police have commented very little or leaked much. I have to be honest, I don't think this case would have been that hard to solve, not through proper investigation work. In a community like Springfield, people talk, people makes deals, etc.. I also know that the police have not really promoted the case in sometime, like some cold cases are done to try to work a phone call. Quite frankly, I think the police know who did it, I think they are pretty certain. I think the main culprit is probably doing time right now, probably a life sentence or close to it. Maybe one of the suspects, if it was plural, is dead. I think the police are content to let it rest, knowing that the person that did it is locked up. I think the case is just not there for a sure guilty verdict, so they just let time go by until all the family pushing for answers, die off.

 

[deathvalley69]

There was a conspiracy, more than one involved, at least two and possibly a third for the physical act, and probably more for the planning. Someone ordered it.

Someone knows, someones, more than likely, but I do not necessarily include the police in their number. Corruption and-or ignorance on LE's part.

The motive and reason for something this big and unsolved is almost always money.

 

[Woofbark]

This case is so fascinating, I think maybe the most fascinating case there is. And I know many have posted their theory on who did it or what they think happened. However, being a so-called active investigation, the police have commented very little or leaked much. I have to be honest, I don't think this case would have been that hard to solve, not through proper investigation work. In a community like Springfield, people talk, people makes deals, etc.. I also know that the police have not really promoted the case in sometime, like some cold cases are done to try to work a phone call. Quite frankly, I think the police know who did it, I think they are pretty certain. I think the main culprit is probably doing time right now, probably a life sentence or close to it. Maybe one of the suspects, if it was plural, is dead. I think the police are content to let it rest, knowing that the person that did it is locked up. I think the case is just not there for a sure guilty verdict, so they just let time go by until all the family pushing for answers, die off.

I know someone mentioned a friend of theirs may have broken into mausoleum to take a few things. Could a clever killer break into a mausoleum, open a coffin, and leave his victim, or victims, in that coffin? Put everything back to the way it was and leave. Who would ever think to look there for a missing person?

 

[mysteryfan96]

Like many others on here, I spend a TON of time reading about and studying famous cold cases, abductions, strange disappearances, and murders (probably too much time, actually). And I’ve gotta say the Springfield Three easily ranks in my top 5 of all-time unsolved cases that I wish could be cracked. It is one of the few cases that really spooked me, and I don’t scare easily.

I agree with you all on here that there are likely multiple people alive, possibly even some in law enforcement, who know who perpetrated the crime and are covering it up or just trying to let it die for various reasons.

The answers I want to know about the case, besides the obvious “whodunnit”, are: 1) were the girls or the mother (or all 3) the target, 2) was the killer already in the house when the girls arrived home from their party, 3) if not, how did the killer(s) gain entry to the home at that hour of the early morning, 4) how significant and central to the case was the broken porch light, and 5) did someone really see the girls driving around crying in a van that next morning?

So many bizarre happenings, sightings, and clues left behind, and seemingly so many near misses or blunders which have stalled the case being solved.

 

[RookieInvestigator]

I think what hurt this case was the friends (unsure about the family) unknowingly cleaning up everything that was in disarray in and outside the house...They didn't realize they contaminated the scene and may have destroyed evidence...In their defense who would've thought all three were kidnapped/murdered...

If there is still evidence the friends touched, it could be mixed with the killer's DNA...They know who was in the house, and they can just focus on the foreign DNA...

This is a very interesting case...They just vanished with no trace...It had to be a personal or sexual motive...I remember all three purses and cars were left at the house...Robbery wasn't the motive...

I'm thinking it was someone from the graduation party or they saw them that night...I think the perpetrator(s) may have moved away shortly after the murder...I would ask the community if anyone abruptly left town after the 3 disappeared...

 

[Ozoner]

I don't think the police know for certain. If they did, there would be charges, even without bodies.
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It wouldn't have been hard for LE to get a warrant to scan the PFI parking lot with ground penetrating radar, so maybe they don't believe that rumor.

 

[Tuffgong]

I don't think the police know for certain. If they did, there would be charges, even without bodies.
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It wouldn't have been hard for LE to get a warrant to scan the PFI parking lot with ground penetrating radar, so maybe they don't believe that rumor.

The parking garage nonsense is the biggest red herring ever, way too much time wasted on it.

 

[Ozoner]

The parking garage nonsense is the biggest red herring ever, way too much time wasted on it.

My comment was about the PFI Western Wear parking lot, not the hospital parking garage.

 

[Woofbark]

Like many others on here, I spend a TON of time reading about and studying famous cold cases, abductions, strange disappearances, and murders (probably too much time, actually). And I’ve gotta say the Springfield Three easily ranks in my top 5 of all-time unsolved cases that I wish could be cracked. It is one of the few cases that really spooked me, and I don’t scare easily.

I agree with you all on here that there are likely multiple people alive, possibly even some in law enforcement, who know who perpetrated the crime and are covering it up or just trying to let it die for various reasons.

The answers I want to know about the case, besides the obvious “whodunnit”, are: 1) were the girls or the mother (or all 3) the target, 2) was the killer already in the house when the girls arrived home from their party, 3) if not, how did the killer(s) gain entry to the home at that hour of the early morning, 4) how significant and central to the case was the broken porch light, and 5) did someone really see the girls driving around crying in a van that next morning?

So many bizarre happenings, sightings, and clues left behind, and seemingly so many near misses or blunders which have stalled the case being solved.

Great observations. I never believed the girls were seen in any vehicle the next day. Also, is it possible that none of the 3 were the actual target. Perhaps someone was flown in from another state and hit the wrong address. He would probably still kill everyone in the house because he still has that other job he's suppose to do. Addresses can be easily mistaken. Someone goes to 301 East main instead of 310 east main or 301 West main.

 

[mysteryfan96]

Great observations. I never believed the girls were seen in any vehicle the next day. Also, is it possible that none of the 3 were the actual target. Perhaps someone was flown in from another state and hit the wrong address. He would probably still kill everyone in the house because he still has that other job he's suppose to do. Addresses can be easily mistaken. Someone goes to 301 East main instead of 310 east main or 301 West main.

Some good thoughts here. I tend to agree that they likely weren’t really seen in a vehicle the next day. I’m sure the witness saw and heard “something”, but likely not a “something” that was really related to the Springfield 3. I mean, why would a killer/abductor still be driving around town with the girls hours after taking them? I guess it’s possible that the abduction happened later in the morning than most people assume, and that the van was spotted shortly after the crime. But I kind of doubt it for some reason.

And you bring up an intriguing possibility with a hit gone wrong/mistaken address situation. It would be interesting to learn whether any other similar murders took place in Springfield that week. I can see a situation where a hitman would choose the wrong house/victims but then be forced to go ahead with killing them even after realizing his mistake (so as to leave no witnesses). But then I would suppose he would carry out his original task as well later that week.

That all goes back to the main question- were the 3 women chosen at random/by accident/by opportunity, or were they targeted specifically days or weeks in advance?

If I were forced to guess, I would say that the murders were not pre-meditated and that either the mother or the two girls caught the attention of some sicko. Maybe a predator saw the mom around town or watched her house as the girls left earlier that night. Or maybe somewhere along the girls’ route around town that night they were noticed and followed by their eventual killer. I also suspect that their killer was later incarcerated for a similar violent crime, since someone who would abduct and murder 3 women from their home late at night would be very, very likely to kill again and again until caught.

 

[California Sunset]

At least one person thought of that. You. That's an amazing possibility.

 

[Woofbark]

Some good thoughts here. I tend to agree that they likely weren’t really seen in a vehicle the next day. I’m sure the witness saw and heard “something”, but likely not a “something” that was really related to the Springfield 3. I mean, why would a killer/abductor still be driving around town with the girls hours after taking them? I guess it’s possible that the abduction happened later in the morning than most people assume, and that the van was spotted shortly after the crime. But I kind of doubt it for some reason.

And you bring up an intriguing possibility with a hit gone wrong/mistaken address situation. It would be interesting to learn whether any other similar murders took place in Springfield that week. I can see a situation where a hitman would choose the wrong house/victims but then be forced to go ahead with killing them even after realizing his mistake (so as to leave no witnesses). But then I would suppose he would carry out his original task as well later that week.

That all goes back to the main question- were the 3 women chosen at random/by accident/by opportunity, or were they targeted specifically days or weeks in advance?

If I were forced to guess, I would say that the murders were not pre-meditated and that either the mother or the two girls caught the attention of some sicko. Maybe a predator saw the mom around town or watched her house as the girls left earlier that night. Or maybe somewhere along the girls’ route around town that night they were noticed and followed by their eventual killer. I also suspect that their killer was later incarcerated for a similar violent crime, since someone who would abduct and murder 3 women from their home late at night would be very, very likely to kill again and again until caught.

Similar crimes had been committed before and after this one. One that comes to mind was in Welch Oklahoma. Three men involved. I'm not sure where they were when this happened. I'm still curious about the other crimes that may have been committed closer to Springfield.

 

[Woofbark]

At least one person thought of that. You. That's an amazing possibility.

Thank you. What is your favorite theory about this case?

 

[California Sunset]

Thank you. What is your favorite theory about this case?

I don't have one. I am new and something drew my attention to this forum. My cousin led me to your site, and we discuss aspects of these cases.
Something about this whole thing is surreal. I feel like I've been through this whole scenario, and it's creeping me out. Was this featured on an old television show somewhere way back when?
Have you all already discussed Larry DeWayne Hall? I was just reading about him, someone, perhaps psychology students for a class, did a paper on him, at Radford University. He fits a lot of the criteria, even having a van like one supposed to have been seen the next day. How does one person subdue three females? By threatening the one he has hold of while he gets the others to cooperate.
Richard Speck killed eight all by his lonesome. Chicago, 1966. One lived, he lost count, didn't miss her and she rolled under a bed.
Your earlier comment really has me thinking. How many people are missing and do they ever search mausoleums or graves that are dug but not yet occupied?

 

[California Sunset]

Thank you. What is your favorite theory about this case?

I wasn't aware of it at the time, when I mentioned Larry DeWayne Hall, but apparently he was a plausible suspect in this case.

 

[California Sunset]

Thank you. What is your favorite theory about this case?

While looking around online for something else, I came across the name Larry DeWayne Hall. I did a search and an extremely helpful paper was written by some psych students, Brittany Begley, Kasey Frith, & Kari Elliot at Redford University. The amount of information in that paper was amazing, and extremely helpful. It appears that Hall was all over most of the eastern half of the contiguous United States. The paper states killings occurred in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Georgia, Alabama. That's quite an area to cover for a man that supposedly lived almost his whole life in Indiana. If you aren't familiar with him, and you read up on him, you may discover he has been a leading candidate for the Springfield 3, and has been considered by some to be their killer. The paper goes into an extensive amount of knowledge on Larry, who is in prison. Testing was done. According to testing, his IQ is quite low.
Larry is an identical twin.

 

[Woofbark]

While looking around online for something else, I came across the name Larry DeWayne Hall. I did a search and an extremely helpful paper was written by some psych students, Brittany Begley, Kasey Frith, & Kari Elliot at Redford University. The amount of information in that paper was amazing, and extremely helpful. It appears that Hall was all over most of the eastern half of the contiguous United States. The paper states killings occurred in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, Georgia, Alabama. That's quite an area to cover for a man that supposedly lived almost his whole life in Indiana. If you aren't familiar with him, and you read up on him, you may discover he has been a leading candidate for the Springfield 3, and has been considered by some to be their killer. The paper goes into an extensive amount of knowledge on Larry, who is in prison. Testing was done. According to testing, his IQ is quite low.
Larry is an identical twin.

Didn't his brother travel with him?

 

[Woofbark]

I think what hurt this case was the friends (unsure about the family) unknowingly cleaning up everything that was in disarray in and outside the house...They didn't realize they contaminated the scene and may have destroyed evidence...In their defense who would've thought all three were kidnapped/murdered...

If there is still evidence the friends touched, it could be mixed with the killer's DNA...They know who was in the house, and they can just focus on the foreign DNA...

This is a very interesting case...They just vanished with no trace...It had to be a personal or sexual motive...I remember all three purses and cars were left at the house...Robbery wasn't the motive...

I'm thinking it was someone from the graduation party or they saw them that night...I think the perpetrator(s) may have moved away shortly after the murder...I would ask the community if anyone abruptly left town after the 3 disappeared...

They've mentioned the people who showed up at Delmar after the crime. Is there anyone who you would have expected to show up there but they didn't?

 

[California Sunset]

Didn't his brother travel with him?

Larry and his brother often participated in Civil War reenactments together in various locations.
Was there one in that area of Missouri or one in one direction one day and another in a different direction few days later?
If you read the paper from Radford, or some of the other info, at least one of Larry's victims was killed nearby, the day after he attended a civil war reenactment. Perhaps you know, I don't, with identical twins, are their IQs generally in the same range? I know a lot of the time, their personalities are not similar, but they have identical DNA.

 

[California Sunset]

They've mentioned the people who showed up at Delmar after the crime. Is there anyone who you would have expected to show up there but they didn't?

I was under the impression in a lot of cases, the killer shows up to 'help' search for the victims. I would expect the guilty person to be as likely to show up as not.