CANADA Canada - Donna Awcock, 17, London, Ont, 13 Oct 1983

[dotr]

: November 10, 2017
https://globalnews.ca/news/3855658/...n-34-year-old-cold-case-murder-investigation/

Police appeal for information in 34-year-old cold case murder investigation

The 17-year-old was found dead along the banks of the Thames River, just west of the Fanshawe Dam, on Friday, Oct. 14, 1983.

Before her death, police say Awcock had been babysitting for a neighbour at an apartment building next door to where she lived along Cheyenne Avenue, now known as Oakville Avenue, in the city’s northeast end. Awcock left the apartment where she had been babysitting around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 13 to go buy cigarettes at a nearby corner store. She never returned.

Leads in the case have been few and far between. Police issued another appeal to the public for information on Friday. In a statement, police said they were “confident someone in the community has vital information” that would lead police to the person or persons responsible.

To this day, the case remains open, police said. The investigation continues under the direction of OPP Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Randy Wright. The province continues to offer a $50,000 cash reward for information in connection to Awcock’s death, in addition to a cash reward of up to $2,000 from police.

Anyone with information relating to the murder case is asked to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

 

[LadyL]

did the family recognize the updated sketch?

 

[dotr]

rbbm.

In 1983, police circulated a composite sketch of the man thought to be Donna Jean Awcock’s killer. Mike Arntfield and his team circulated that same composite and found the man seemingly depicted in the image…but he was not the killer. Sketching is rooted in a system first developed by Alphonse Bertillion in the 1880s. In spite of all human variability in the world, there are only a handful of ear shapes, eye shapes, nose sizes and hairstyles that make up a human face. Traditional sketches like the one in this case would be a hand-drawn image done with pencil and paper. Sketches are then followed by “composite images” that are done with a computer application. With advances in software technology, those distinctions have become blurred. Now, artists can draw directly on a computer screen with a digital pencil, and computer operators can assemble sketch-like images without ever having taken an art course. But these advances haven’t improved accuracy

Even though this black and white image didn’t bring Donna Jean’s killer to justice, composites have worked in the past

[video=youtube;x4L9hgdcyno]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4L9hgdcyno[/video]

 

[Thewop356]

What I would like to know in regards to the show is: Did anyone ever figure out the name of the person that made the confession in front of the witness that came forward? If I remember correctly when Dr Mike mentions his name to Donna's family, they replied that she knew him. He would be my number one suspect.

 

[morf13]

New podcast episode out now about Donna's case out today 1/5/19

 

[dotr]

There were several murders of children/young adults in the 1960-1980 time period in a small geographic area London/Sarnia and surrounding. Some of these cases fall under the jurisdiction of the OPP and others to municipal forces. I know that Project Angel re-looked at some of these cases in the late 1990s but I would love them to be gathered together and really carefully considered as a whole again.

These are the ones that I know of that I think bear some similarities. Many were found near/in water....some similarities in age/time period/manner of death.

Donna Awcock, aged 17, 1983 (London)
Karen Coughlin, aged 14, 1974 (Sarnia)
Soraya O'Connell, aged 15, 1970 (London)
Patricia Bovin, aged 22, 1969 (London)
Robert Stapylton, aged 11, 1969 (London)
Jacqueline English, aged 15, 1969 (London)
Frankie Jensen, aged 9, 1968 (London) * found in the Thames river near Thorndale
Scott Leishman, aged 16, 1968 (Thorndale) *found in the river near port burwell
Helga Beer, aged 31, 1968 (London)
Jacqueline Dunleavy, aged 16, 1968 (London)
Keith Henry, agedd 9, 1963 (Waterloo) * not found
Susan Cadieux, aged 5, 1956 (London)

Bumping.

"These are the ones that I know of that I think bear some similarities. Many were found near/in water....some similarities in age/time period/manner of death.

Donna Awcock, aged 17, 1983 (London)
Karen Coughlin, aged 14, 1974 (Sarnia)
Soraya O'Connell, aged 15, 1970 (London)
Patricia Bovin, aged 22, 1969 (London)
Robert Stapylton, aged 11, 1969 (London)
Jacqueline English, aged 15, 1969 (London)
Frankie Jensen, aged 9, 1968 (London) * found in the Thames river near Thorndale
Scott Leishman, aged 16, 1968 (Thorndale) *found in the river near port burwell
Helga Beer, aged 31, 1968 (London)
Jacqueline Dunleavy, aged 16, 1968 (London)
Keith Henry, agedd 9, 1963 (Waterloo) * not found
Susan Cadieux, aged 5, 1956 (London)"

 

[imstilla.grandma]

This article has previously been posted here butbwith the older formatting so I’m gonna repost.
Donna Awcock
Updated: July 31, 2013

“Money talks,” said Tammy Dennett, who’s fought tirelessly to keep her sister’s case alive.

This year, she pushed the Ontario Provincial Police to double the reward. She’s also plastered the new reward signs around East London.

“I just feel in my heart that someone out there knows. Someone must know,” she said Wednesday.

“She didn’t kill herself — someone did this to her and Donna deserves justice.”

“It’s never a closed case,” said OPP spokesperson David Rektor, adding the Ontario government put up the reward money to generate tips.

But it’s not the size of the reward that determines good tips, said Michael Scott, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin and former police officer. Old cases are more likely to be solved by technology and forensic evidence, he said.

“In many times there was some kind of a financial reward offered at the time, and that wasn’t enough to compel the person, so the offer of more money 30 years later doesn’t seem more likely,” he said.

“There’s always hope,” he said.

“Memories fade with prolonged time,” he said. “But on the other hand, people who have a bit of a guilty conscience — it might catch up with them in life.”

But Dennett, encouraged by interest the case has attracted since she started a Facebook page a few years ago, said $50,000 could be just the incentive someone needs. “I hope so. I want this person caught.”

Their father never recovered, said Dennett, and died about 10 years ago. Their mom still doesn’t want to talk about the case.

“My sister was raped and killed. That has changed everything about my family,” she said. “He killed us, too.

“I still have trust issues . . . I don’t know who did this to her. It could be my neighbour,” she said.

“To this day, I don’t go out in the dark.”
Tammy Dennett hopes a $50,000 reward will lead to the arrest of whoever killed her 17-year-old sister, Donna Awcock

 

[Kell1]

Do I have this correct?

The Children's mother caught a ride back to the apartment with a stranger, after that the victim left to go to a store before going home , then was abducted raped murdered and she was found left near a dam?

 

[Fede]

Do I have this correct?

The Children's mother caught a ride back to the apartment with a stranger, after that the victim left to go to a store before going home , then was abducted raped murdered and she was found left near a dam?

Yes, I wonder what happened with the "stranger". After eating, the children´s mother sent Donna to buy cigarettes and that is when she was murdered.

 

[Fede]

here is the Facebook group for Donna: Justice For Donna Jean Awcock

 

[Kell1]

Yes, I wonder what happened with the "stranger". After eating, the children´s mother sent Donna to buy cigarettes and that is when she was murdered.

SO the kids mother sent her to get cigarettes from the store ?

 

[dotr]

re posts, rbbm.
2017
Police appeal for information in 34-year-old cold case murder investigation
''Before her death, police say Awcock had been babysitting for a neighbour at an apartment building next door to where she lived along Cheyenne Avenue, now known as Oakville Avenue, in the city’s northeast end. Awcock left the apartment where she had been babysitting around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 13 to go buy cigarettes at a nearby corner store. She never returned. Awcock’s family contacted police when she failed to return home later that day.

The next day, two kilometres northeast of her Cheyenne Avenue home, Awkcock’s badly beaten, partly-clad body was discovered along the riverbank. Police determined the cause of death was ‘manual strangulation.’ Awcock had also been raped.''

2013
Tammy Dennett hopes a $50,000 reward will lead to the arrest of whoever killed her 17-year-old sister, Donna Awcock | The Sarnia Observer
''Awcock, a green-eyed teen with dirty blond hair, lived with her family in an apartment on Cheyenne Ave., now Oakville Ave., in northeast London.

She loved children and they loved her. She often babysat for Dennett, who also lived with their parents in the apartment.

The night she was last seen alive, Awcock had been babysitting for a woman who lived in the next-door building.

The woman asked Awcock to run to a nearby store to pick her up some cigarettes, but Awcock never returned.''

''OTHER UNSOLVED LONDON-REGION MURDERS

Jan. 6, 1956: Susan Cadieux, 5

Dec. 28, 1963: Margaret Sheeler, 20

Jan. 9, 1968: Jacqueline Dunleavy, 16

Feb. 9, 1968: Frankie Jensen, 9

Aug. 6, 1968: Helga Beer, 31

Nov. 13, 1968: Lynda White, 19

Oct. 4, 1969: Jacqueline English, 15

April 24, 1969: Patricia Bovin, 22

Feb. 18, 1977: Ivan Wheeler, 27

Jan. 22, 1996: Sam Lottery, 17

March 24, 2009: Lisa Leckie, 25

May 8, 2009: Anthony Manning, 39

May 31, 2012: Jonathan Zak, 29''

 

[Kell1]

Did they ever question whomever brought the Mom home ?

 

[Fede]

SO the kids mother sent her to get cigarettes from the store ?

"The woman asked Awcock to run to a nearby store to pick her up some cigarettes, but Awcock never returned."

 

[ConundrumPonderer]

Bump for Donna.
Murder City: The Untold Story of Canada’s Serial Killer Capital by Michael Arntfield
Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read, never mind True Crime books, but anyway, Donna’s murder, and the others which may be related, are discussed in detail.

 

[ConundrumPonderer]

Bumping for Donna by adding two links.
Her lovely sister began a charity in Donna’s memory which provides a Christmas to a struggling family.
A news story about the charity: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/donna-awcock-christmas-meal-london-family-1.3907206
The Donna’s Angels FB (A closed group, but I want to add the link for the future, in case anyone with the means to help would like to apply.): Donna's Angels | Facebook

I think about her case so often.

 

[dotr]

Oct 11 2023

Q+A: Sister speaks out on Donna Awcock's 40-year unsolved homicide

Walk marks 40 years since the cold murder of Donna Awcock

lfpress.com

Q: What’s the most recent tip you’ve had from the police about Donna’s case?​

I can’t mention any names, but a girl who firmly believes it was her uncle (who killed Donna) said she’s willing to give a DNA sample. I just got that (information) yesterday. I guess her uncle went to the variety store that exact same night. She said that was his hangout . . .

Q: Forty years is a long time to keep your sister in the public eye. What keeps you going?​

To get people talking about it. Somebody knows something, and, hopefully, they tell the right person and it gets back to me, the police, Crimestoppers – whoever. Somebody has to be her voice – justice for her and closure for us.

Q: Different rewards have been offered over the years. Have they generated tips that the police have pursued?​

There’s still a $50,000 reward outstanding for (information leading to the conviction of Awcock’s killer). A lot of the stuff they (the police) don’t tell me. There is not much I really hear because they don’t want to jeopardize the case, and neither do I.''

 

[ConundrumPonderer]

Bump for Donna.
It was cold last night, so as I was sitting (smoking) outside, I was thinking about Donna, heading out to get smokes for the woman she was babysitting for, shows up at the corner store upset and they don’t let her use the phone, leaves, found murdered. The whole thing is bonkers, somebody knows something. Plug again for Murder City, fantastic book, Donna’s Angels, fantastic charity.
Donna Awcock, look at that grin. I know how cool you were just from that.
Episode 23 The Murder in My Family. (@morf13 Thank You.)Episode 23 Donna Jean Awcock — AbJack Entertainment