MD MD - Goldie Fritz, 19, Clear Spring, 13 March 1979

[UMfanforever]

bump *

 

[TrinatyMoon]

something was pulling me to this post. come to find out after i read it, it happend on the day i was born

 

[Lorelilly]

I believe that the "BF" did swim across the river - it would have been about 300' across at the point of entry -what better way to remove any evidence. The river might not have been that "swollen" as reported. Goldie's body was found only half-mile down river from the point of entry.

The BF's story is absurd on it's face. Looking at the distance the "mystery man" forced them to walk, without the aid of any street lamps, in pitch black... makes no sense. Nor does it make sense for the "mystery man" to demand the BF to swim and then what, he shoots the gun in the air and tells Goldie to get in the river????

Do we know if Goldie could swim? How long had she known the BF?
How deserted is the road they were parked on? Was the BF asked to take a poly and if not I would urge LE to get one now. His story is .... sketchy and my hinky meter is off the charts.

 

[STANDREID]

Why hasn't the BF's name been released? Since he was the victim of a crime that wasn't rape, wouldn't his name be a matter of public record? Was he a member of a prominent family? One of the googles (dated 2004) says that he moved to Colorado. I agree that his story, although possibly true, seems suspicious unless there was some corroborating evidence like footprints or foreign biological material.

When I first saw this thread, the first thing that came to mind was the Colonial Parkway Killer so I'll throw that into the mix. The case was in the same general region and time and involved attacks on parked couples.

 

[iron_iking]

This is a puzzler. I lived in MD from 1989-1992, and I was an avid cyclist at the time. I cycled the section of the C & O Canal towpath that the crime scene was part on one or two occasions. And my adult daughters today live within a 20 mile radius of Clear Spring.

The boyfriend's story set off my hinky meter, so I did some research about the conditions that night. First, March 13, 1979 was a Tuesday. There had been periods of rain that day in Baltimore, so, based on my experienced living in Western MD, I suspect that it had rained in Clear Spring that day or night, too.

It was a full moon that night, so the story that the couple went to "park" there is somewhat plausible, but the day of the week, Tuesday, makes it implausible in my mind unless they were pretty tight as a couple and had been together for awhile.

Along these lines, I find it hard to believe that a stalker or serial killer would be staking out such a remote location in the middle of the week. The likelihood of couples venturing out there had to be low, plus gasoline prices were beginning to spike.

The alleged $60 that was robbed strikes me as odd, too. That was a lot of money to have several days after payday back then. Does anyone know what the boyfriend's job was?

Finally, I seriously question the story about swimming the Potomac River. I checked 5 yrs of water temps for that date at the monitoring station over 50 miles downriver from the crime scene, and with warmer water. The temps ranged from 35 F to 50 F, with most averaging 42-45 F. In 35 F water you will die of hypothermia in 15 mins. At 42-45 F you could last 30-40 mins. I would think that even a strong swimmer would have great difficulties in a swollen river with water that cold.

Add in the other great insights from the board members here, and I have to question why law enforcement didn't question this story more at the time.

 

[Richard]

40 years have now passed...

WASHINGTON COUNTY

A romantic night on the banks of the Potomac River turned deadly for Goldie Elizabeth Fritz in March 1979.

The 20-year-old woman and her boyfriend allegedly were forced by a gunman to the river's edge near Hancock. Although her boyfriend managed to swim to the West Virginia shore, Fritz drowned in its murky waters.

No one knows who killed her.

 

[jcdaley]

Goldie Fritz is my first cousin. Her father is my uncle. I was only 4 years old when she was murdered and don't recall much from that timeframe. Over the years it has been a topic of family discussions and heartbreak. My aunt passed away never knowing what happened to her daughter. My uncle lives with the pain that he may never know while on this earth. To answer a few of these questions posed previously I will tell what I know. First of all, Goldie had been dating the guy she was with that evening for most of her teenage life so he was a long term bow. The fact that they were there on a Tuesday was not out of the ordinary. Goldie came from a larger family and to have privacy they would sometimes go for a drive to be alone. It was however later discovered that Goldie had specifically requested for him to pick her up that evening as she needed to tell him something. No one was ever able to confirm what she wanted to tell him. Goldie was unable to swim and was afraid of the water. The boyfriend was a suspect and was questioned many times. He even took a couple polygraph tests. He failed one and the other one was inconclusive. The car and the supposed attacker's description that was given by the boyfriend just happened to fit that of a known family acquaintance. This individual had a known history of exposing himself to females in the area. He also retained every automobile he ever owned from the time he was 16 until current, except for the car that was described by Goldie's boyfriend. This person was also questioned however his mother gave him an alibi stating that he was home the entire evening. Later in years, when DNA testing was available, the boyfriend did submit to a buckle swab. His DNA did not match the DNA that was found on and within Goldie. LE attempted to get a warrant for the mentioned family acquaintance however was unsuccessful due to the fact that his mother still swore that he never left the house that evening. Goldie's boyfriend did not shy away from the family until LE made it uncomfortable for him to remain in the area and he moved out west. He later moved back to the area and has never been in trouble with LE...ever!

The area where they were made to walk is very dense and wooded. There is also a small river branch that they would have had to cross to actually get to the river's bank area where the boyfriend said they were made to jump. The river was almost out of it's banks that evening and was running very fast. It would also have been very cold.

I am so torn about this case. It haunts our family. We have all come to the conclusion that we will never know...at least not while we are on this earth.

If anyone has any other questions that feel I may be able to answer, please ask them and I will do my best.

 

[cenazoic]

[URL='https://mdsp.maryland.gov/Organization/Pages/CriminalInvestigationBureau/CriminalEnforcementDivision/ColdCasesResults.aspx?CCID=14']Maryland State Police page for Goldie.[/URL]

They mention a 3rd version of what happened that night:

“They were allegedly accosted by a man with a gun who forced them to lay face down on the ground. Money was taken from the boyfriend and then both were walked to the river.”

Could be nothing, could be one version or the other is just a shortened version of another, but still odd. Also, interesting use of ‘allegedly’.

Welcome, @jcdaley ! Thank you for all the additional details. I’m sorry for the heartache your family has been through all these years.

I‘ve got a few questions, if you don’t mind. (Totally understand you can’t answer all of them!)

Goldie's boyfriend did not shy away from the family until LE made it uncomfortable for him to remain in the area…He later moved back to the area

What were/are the family’s thoughts about his involvement? Did he get in touch when he moved back?

The car and the supposed attacker's description that was given by the boyfriend just happened to fit that of a known family acquaintance.

A Fritz family acquaintance? Whatever happened to this guy?

He also retained every automobile he ever owned…except for the car that was described by Goldie's boyfriend

How old was he? How did he know the family? What did he say happened to the car? Did it ever show back up?

Do you know if the map posted earlier in the thread, which purports to mark both where the car was parked and point of river entry is correct?

This one.

Does the family have any theories or suspicions?

Given how rural the WV side looks today, I assume it was even more so in 1979. So how did the boyfriend “immediately” contact the WV and MD Stare Police?

In a post above, iron_iking says that the 5 year average temperature on 13 March, on the Potomac, measured 50 miles downstream from crime scene, where the temp was warmer:

…ranged from 35 F to 50 F, with most averaging 42-45 F. In 35 F water you will die of hypothermia in 15 mins. At 42-45 F you could last 30-40 mins.

So after swimming the cold and swollen Potomac in March, coming up on an isolated WV shoreline, presumably time spent finding help/phone - and he didn’t have hypothermia? (No reported ill-effects of this journey reported, at any rate.)

Don’t make a lick a sense.

 

[Jfritz1979]

Why hasn't the BF's name been released? Since he was the victim of a crime that wasn't rape, wouldn't his name be a matter of public record? Was he a member of a prominent family? One of the googles (dated 2004) says that he moved to Colorado. I agree that his story, although possibly true, seems suspicious unless there was some corroborating evidence like footprints or foreign biological material.

When I first saw this thread, the first thing that came to mind was the Colonial Parkway Killer so I'll throw that into the mix. The case was in the same general region and time and involved attacks on parked couples.

Hello there. I can offer some information on the boyfriend. I am Goldie's nephew. I was born May of 1979. For obvious reasons, this wasn't talked about around me growing up but as years went on, I heard things and was told things by other members of my family. As a weird twist to this story, the boyfriend went on to marry my mother's sister years later. To clarify, Goldie was my father's sister. The boyfriend had 3 children with my mothers sister before they split up and he moved to Colorado years later. He didn't just run off to Colorado after the incident as some may speculate. He regularly comes back to the area to visit his children and has never given anyone a reason to think he's guilty but obviously we have always wondered about that night and you just do not ever really know someone, so who knows...also, having grown up in the same area and unknowingly spending alot of time fishing the river in this exact spot (because no one ever talked to me about it) I can tell you that this road is deserted and is a dead end. Only fisherman, cyclists, trail trekkers and young mischievous teenagers even know how to find it. The reason the gunman would have chosen that location along the river is because the area is heavily wooded besides a well-beaten path. Any attempt to trek straight toward the river from the road would have been stopped by all kinds of environmental obstacles. To give a better understanding, the path goes down a very steep hillside, (about 20ft) runs along the canal for about 100 yards, crosses the canal just before the tow path crosses an old aqueduct and then down another long beaten path on the opposite end of the aqueduct that runs along Licking creek, to where the creek empties into the Potomac. There is an island there so the water is usually calm on that side of the island. You need to walk about another 200 yards to get out to the main flow of the river. I posted some pictures of the area to help understand better as well.
I never had the pleasure to meet my Aunt Goldie but I know the pain my family still feels from her loss. Her mother (my grandmother) passed away in 2013 without ever getting the closure she deserved. I pray some day, that the person responsible pays for what they did that day.

 

[Pimlipo]

Hello there. I can offer some information on the boyfriend. I am Goldie's nephew. I was born May of 1979. For obvious reasons, this wasn't talked about around me growing up but as years went on, I heard things and was told things by other members of my family. As a weird twist to this story, the boyfriend went on to marry my mother's sister years later. To clarify, Goldie was my father's sister. The boyfriend had 3 children with my mothers sister before they split up and he moved to Colorado years later. He didn't just run off to Colorado after the incident as some may speculate. He regularly comes back to the area to visit his children and has never given anyone a reason to think he's guilty but obviously we have always wondered about that night and you just do not ever really know someone, so who knows...also, having grown up in the same area and unknowingly spending alot of time fishing the river in this exact spot (because no one ever talked to me about it) I can tell you that this road is deserted and is a dead end. Only fisherman, cyclists, trail trekkers and young mischievous teenagers even know how to find it. The reason the gunman would have chosen that location along the river is because the area is heavily wooded besides a well-beaten path. Any attempt to trek straight toward the river from the road would have been stopped by all kinds of environmental obstacles. To give a better understanding, the path goes down a very steep hillside, (about 20ft) runs along the canal for about 100 yards, crosses the canal just before the tow path crosses an old aqueduct and then down another long beaten path on the opposite end of the aqueduct that runs along Licking creek, to where the creek empties into the Potomac. There is an island there so the water is usually calm on that side of the island. You need to walk about another 200 yards to get out to the main flow of the river. I posted some pictures of the area to help understand better as well.
I never had the pleasure to meet my Aunt Goldie but I know the pain my family still feels from her loss. Her mother (my grandmother) passed away in 2013 without ever getting the closure she deserved. I pray some day, that the person responsible pays for what they did that day.

Hello, thanks for sharing with us and I hope you guys get the answers you deserve one day.

Was there ever any proof found of a gun being fired on the side of the river? Residue, bullets, shell casing etc?
The boyfriends story sounds sketchy on the face of things but who are we to judge without knowing the facts, you are obviously better judged to speak on his character.
It was mentioned somewhere up thread that his DNA did not match with DNA at the scene with Goldie, but also mentioned up thread that a later DNA evaluation threw up nothing of evidentiary value. Do you know where they stand with DNA?

 

[Hockeyfan158]

It’s probably not him but when i read about this case i was thinking that maybe it could’ve been one of two unidentified serial killers who killed Goldie

1. The Colonial Parkway Killer who murdered his victims in similar situations between 1986 to 1989 in Virginia. Colonial Parkway murders - Wikipedia

2. Connecticut River Valley Killer who murdered woman in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont between 1978 to 1988. Connecticut River Valley Killer - Wikipedia

 

[ChazzoMozza]

4 years earlier, a John Clark was found shot dead in the same area. Also unsolved. A link perhaps?Cold Case

 

[Richard]

This unsolved case is now 45 years old.