Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - #3

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kitbits said:
ok, been putting my super-rusty French skills to work & have found some francophone links for missing person searches:

http://www.manuassociation.org/ - Picardie, France

http://www.gendarmerie.defense.gouv.fr/judiciaire/index.html - France

http://www.belgian-missing-persons.be/ - Belgium

http://www.avisderecherches.com/ - Montreal, Quebec

http://www.avisderecherche.net/

http://www.sq.gouv.qc.ca/personnes-disparues/personnes-disparues-surete-du-quebec.jsp#pageDemandee=1 - Quebec
Click to expand...

Thanks for these sites, kitbits. I actually found the one from Montreal, Quebec a couple years ago. Today when I clicked on it I got a little excited because of the photo at the bottom right, Herve Chartier. I thought he looked a little like John Doe. Then I clicked on un homme at the top and saw he went missing in March 2008 so that ruled him out!
 
kitbits said:
I was thinking about the KOAs & how the article in 'Media links' mentioned how clean the two were, like they had showered & all. I was a teenager through most of the 70s (15 in 76) & my parents initially had a VW pop-top camper and then when we moved to Colorado, they eventually replaced that with a Winnebago. Anyway, we used to do roadtrips for our vacations & used to stay in the good ol' KOAs all over the place. I remember that they definitely had tent areas, though I can't say if they hired them out, but that wouldn't surprise me. AND they always seemed to have showering facilities.

Also, someone several pages back made the point about witness's recall accuracy, regarding Mr Batson coming forward later on & saying that he remembered the couple. I sort of feel that it's more plausible that he is remembering the Does, because he spent a considerable amount of time with the KOA couple, rather than just meeting them on the fly or whatever.

Not saying his memory was totally reliable (mine sure isn't :p), but it wasn't a brief encounter,
so I feel it's more than probable that he is remembering the very same couple.

oh yeah, and the hairy legs! Man, I know I felt pressured into shaving mine back then! And I always used to hear that European women generally didn't because only '*advertiser censored*' would do such things. Sometimes 'hippy' type women wouldn't shave back then, either (or even today!).

ok...those are my thoughts for now, whatever they are worth :)
Click to expand...

Kitbits...I suspect he could reconize the couple, as they stayed at the KOA for 2 weeks according to the article I read...Does anyone know how far their bodies was found from the KOA??
QUOTE:
Lt. Gamble received a phone call from a man named David Batson who said he recognized the dead man.
Mr. Batson's wife, Janie, worked at a nearby KOA Campground, the report says. While at the campground, Mr. Batson met a young man and woman who said they were passing through on their way to Florida. A few days later, they returned to the campground, telling Mr. Batson that they liked it there more than in Florida.

They stayed at the KOA for a couple of weeks and Mr. Batson shot pool with the man several times. He later believed his pool partner was the mystery victim.

"The man was called Jock," says Lt. Gamble's report.

"He stated that he believed the man had mentioned he was from Canada; that he had formerly been a schoolteacher and that his father was a medical doctor. He further stated that the man told him that his family had practically disowned him because they had wanted him so badly to be a doctor."

One evening as they played pool, "Jock" tried to sell Mr. Batson a ring he was wearing. The ring looked "very similar" to one police found on the dead man's finger, Mr. Batson said.

The possible name is intriguing because on the underside of the dead man's ring are three engraved letters: JPF. If the letters are the three initials of his name, then perhaps the J stands for Jock; or, as Ronna Hutchison, a private investigator working on the case, suggests: If the man was from Canada, perhaps it is "Jacques" rather than "Jock."

Mr. Batson's tantalizing tip, however, seemed to get lost.

"There is nothing in the file to indicate they followed up on that information about Canada," Sgt. Mackessy said.....
 
Mysteriew:
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 15,412
QUOTE:
That is a good point about the KOA registration. It would have had at least the names of the camper that registered, and if they were in a vehicle they usually wanted the license number.
I wonder if there were any abandoned cars found in the area. If it was someone like a trucker- they would have had their truck and the campers vehicle to contend with.
I think the trucker should have been checked out, but I would have also checked out the KOA manager.
Reportedly, he was the last to see them alive and he evidently didn't provide LE with a camper registration.
He could have committed the murders, thinking that no one would remember the couple.
Then later have become afraid that someone would remember, and thus given his version of the story in case someone mentioned them being at the camping area.........

Mysteriew made some very good points.
IMO....The trucker did NOT murder the couple, as he did not have the 'Smoking Gun'. L. Henry had the murder weapon, given to him yrs. before by his brother.
Was anyone in the Lonnie Henry family, friends with anyone at the KOA/or made deliveries there/ done work there???

I question IF investigator G. ever asked to see the KOA camping registration. Why didn't the manager check the camping register?

With this couple staying at the KOA for a 'couple' of weeks, or LONGER, campers at the camp area, had to have known, noticed, said 'something' about/ to this pretty young couple..

Does anyone think it ODD that the Sebring Race was in March, Yet the couple was still in the Sumter SC/Florence/ N.C line area in August, when they were murdered...
5 months after the race was over?????

I am NOT convinced NO one got to know them during their stay. Maybe they made friends, the couple stayed in that general area for some reason....

could they have been in the KOA much longer than the two weeks mentioned....IF not staying at the KOA, where, 5 months after the race?

Back in the spring of 1975, we saw the #75 "Spirit of Sebring" Vette in action at Laguna Seca, in an IMSA Camel GT Challenge race.

The Spirit of Sebring ’76 car

Sebring Raceway closes promptly at 3:00 pm, Sunday, March .
Please don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong about the Month of the race..
 
IF they did stay at KOA that long...5 months? just a total question, don't know about any dates,BUt that is a long time for a KOA campground w/o a big get up (as in a nice camper) and just if someone did that, they would have been waiting on "someone" or "something". Wouldn't you think?
bluestarzz
 
Long shot, but doenetwork just updated the listing for a young Canadian who shares similar vitals and somewhat resembled JD. I know the date is way off, but the circumstances of his disappearance don't seem set in stone, and mistakes are made. Even though I am inclined to believe that neither of these young people was ever reported missing, just thought I would throw it out there.

The Doe Network:
Case File 3910DMAB


Joseph Pierre Roussel
Missing since July 11, 1977 from Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Classification: Missing



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vital Statistics

Age at Time of Disappearance: 19 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 6'1" (185 cm); 160 lbs. (73 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Brown hair; hazel eyes.
Marks, Scars: Scar on left ring finger.
Clothing: Not known


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Circumstances of Disappearance
Joseph Roussel was last seen in Jasper National Park on July 11, 1977
 
Hi, Mysterylover--agreed. I think Mr Batson was probably remembering that very same couple, since he did get to know them over a longish period of time. I don't know how far the KOA is from the site where the bodies were discovered...don't recall ever having seen it mentioned. If I knew the address, good ol' Microsoft AutoRoute would tell us :)

I don't think the trucker did it either. And I totally find it odd that no one asked to see the register for the KOA!

MaedchenX...had a look at that. Agreed that mistakes are made, but I looked at the pic & can't see any resemblance, personally...anyone else?

Nice find, though!!
 
JD's eyes were brown. Joseph Pierre Roussel's eyes are hazel.

I don't believe someone would mistake brown for hazel or vice versa. Blue or green, yes. My eyes are hazel and they change color. Unfortunately, I don't believe this is a match.
 
They were found in August of '76, not '75. The shirt John was wearing was from the '75 race. I don't understand why mysterylover is thinking they were at the '76 race in March. Did I miss something?
 
shadetreePI said:

They were found in August of '76, not '75.
The shirt John was wearing was from the '75 race.

I don't understand why mysterylover is thinking they were at the '76 race in January or March '76. Did I miss something?
Click to expand...

Shadetree...Yes, I know Jock Doe was wearing a '75 racing shirt when he was murdered in August 1976...
From the way I understood it, the girl and guy had been to the races in Florida and stayed at the KOA the same year (1976) they were murdered.

Maybe I didn't word it clearly or did I misunderstand something?

The Sebring races are in March each year? Which year did they attend the races or did they? Just trying to get a time frame when they were in the Sumter area.
It had to been the same time L. Henry's wife was in the hospital...

AS I did not see a picture of the T-shirt, I added the #75 "Spirit of Sebring", Camel GT Challenge race, to my last post because the male was wearing a T-Shirt that someone said to have 1975 on it just in case someone though it was for the year 1975 when in fact it was # 75...just a long-shot.
 
Mysterylover said:
Shadetree...Yes, I know Jock Doe was wearing a '75 racing shirt when he was murdered in August 1976...
From the way I understood it, the girl and guy had been to the races and stayed at the KOA the same year (1976) they were murdered.

Maybe I didn't word it clearly or did I misunderstand something?

The Sebring races are in March each year? Which year did they attend the races?

AS I did not see a picture of the T-shirt, I added the #75 "Spirit of Sebring", Camel GT Challenge race, to my last post because the male was wearing a T-Shirt that someone said to have 1975 on it just in case someone though it was for the year 1975 when in fact it was # 75...just a long-shot.
Click to expand...

No one knows if they EVER attended the races. He was just wearing the shirt.
 
Shadetree...You're correct...they possibly never attended the races in Florida and just visited Florida. I should not have assumed..

Notice below how 'DIFFERENTLY' details of this case was reported/printed......

I assumed by what David Batson said the couple went to the Sebring Race in Florida and returned to the KOA several days later, in 1976...regardless of 'where' they went in Florida, they left the KOA for several days and then returned to the KOA.

It would be very telling to know the date/month the couple stayed at the KOA in Santee, S.C. which was 40 miles from Sumter.
QUOTE:
Months after the homicide, an employee of KOA campgrounds near Santee, S.C., called authorities, believing he had earlier made friends with the dead man,
who went by the name “Jock,” according to documents in the case file.

Jock, or more likely, Jacques, stayed a few days at the campgrounds with his young female companion, then left for Florida.
He and his girlfriend stopped at the campgrounds again on their way back.

The two men became friends. While shooting pool, Jacque told the KOA worker he was the son of a prominent doctor in Canada who had disowned him for giving up on his own career in medicine. He was taking a vacation of sorts, traveling the country aimlessly.

Here's Another QUOTE:
Lt. Gamble received a phone call from a man named David Batson who said he recognized the dead man.

Mr. Batson's wife, Janie, worked at a nearby KOA Campground, the report says. While at the campground,

Mr. Batson met a young man and woman who said they were passing through

on their way to Florida. A few days later, they returned to the campground,

telling Mr. Batson that they liked it there more than in Florida.

They stayed at the KOA for a couple of WEEKS and Mr. Batson shot pool with the man several times.... He later believed his pool partner was the mystery victim.

"The man was called Jock," says Lt. Gamble's report.

Both Lt. Gamble and Mr. Batson have since died and the KOA has closed.... Ms. Moore, however, tracked down the former KOA owners.

They told her they kept DETAILED records on campers - including names, addresses and even PHOTOGRAPHS..... Those records, however, had been destroyed when their home burned...

A very important Question is, WHEN did the KOA owner's HOME BURN ?
The month and year the home burned would give a clue IF it was a Coincidence the home burned with the stored records and photos' or deliberately set by one of the people involved in the murders.....and IF the investigators in this open case had time to check the detailed KOA records after Mr. Batson's phone call to the Lt Gamble...
 
A cold, cold monster murdered this couple on August 9, 1976, found shot at 6:20 am, in Sumter, South Carolina, on a dirt road near the Florence co. line...
Quote:
There, beneath the longleaf pine trees, they were both shot twice in the back.

Someone then made sure the deed was thorough:

rolling the two onto their backs and firing a point-blank shot with a .357-calibre handgun under each chin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Aug. 9, 1976, a man living in the sticks between Sumter and Florence heard a car scuttling down a narrow frontage road connecting Interstate 95 to S.C. 341. Someone climbed out. Gunshots echoed in the early morning, then the car raced back onto the highway.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The couple had stayed someplace the night before and taken showers. That impressed everybody. You couldn't say they were hitchhiking or living on the streets."

Quote: Moore says, "They were clean, neat. She was beautiful, real pretty girl. He was also."

JOCK was wearing faded Levi blue jeans, a red T-shirt with "COOR'S America's fine light beer" on the front and "Camel Challenger GT Sebring 75" on the rear. A Bulova Accutron yellow gold watch, serial number H918803 was on his left arm.
 
shadetreePI said:

They were found in August of '76, not '75.
The shirt John was wearing was from the '75 race.

I don't understand why mysterylover is thinking they were at the '76 race in January or March '76. Did I miss something?
Click to expand...

Shadetree...Yes, I know Jock Doe was wearing a red '75 racing shirt when he was murdered in August 1976...
From the way I understood it, the girl and guy had been to the races in Florida and stayed at the KOA the same year (1976) they were murdered.

Maybe I didn't word it clearly or did I misunderstand something?

The Sebring races are in either January or March each year? Which year did they attend the races or did they? Just trying to get a time frame when they were in the Sumter area.
It had to been the same time L. Henry's wife was in the hospital...

AS I did not see a picture of the T-shirt, I added the #75 "Spirit of Sebring", Camel GT Challenge race, to my last post because the male was wearing a T-Shirt that someone said to have 1975 on it just in case someone though it was for the year 1975 when in fact it was # 75...just a long-shot.
 
Who was at the hospital all that night with Lonnie Henry?

The person that had Lonnies S&W .357 pistol that night of Aug. 9th murdered and robbed the young couple..he knew where he left his gun or who had it....why file off the serial numbers...unless he knew...yet LE dropped the ball....WHY?
I can NOT find any arrest record for Lonnie Henry being charged with DUI and a Felony for carrying a concealed murder weapon with the serial numbers filed off.
WHY wasn't he charged with something so serious? Who made the decision to NOT charge him or take him to trial?

Was someone 'with power' making sure Henry wouldn't start naming names to get out of jail?

I'm beginning to suspect someone wanted to 'sanitize' this case as well as the info. that has been released!..... I understand most LE carried .357 S&W's during the '70's also...

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the following distances was NOT too far for Lonnie to drive in the middle of the night and be back at the hospital that morning? Someone try driving it and prove my point....

Monroe NC hospital to Sumter SC --89 miles
Monroe NC hospital to Florence SC--80 miles
Monroe NC to Wadesboro, NC 29 miles (Henry lived near Wadesboro)
QUOTE:
-Verna states the couple traveled through Santee and stayed at the KOA campground there once before they were killed.
( Santee KOA to Sumter... take hwy 301 to I-95 toward Florence to Sumter approx. 40 miles and near where the couple was found? )

Verna also mentioned the KOA guy said the girl had a suitcase both times.

The male (Jock) stated to the campground manager (the person who is now deceased) that he was on his way to Florida.
This is when the pool game allegedly took place in which the Jock Doe told the KOA employee he was Canadian.

The employee also alluded that John Doe was carrying a LOT of CASH and when the KOA guy commented on the ring, the J.D. offered to sell it to him.

The J.D. and the girl then came BACK through Sumter county on their way BACK from Florida and this was when they were killed.

If this guy was flashing a wad of cash around, that would make him a target for robbery............

Also, the gun WAS tied to someone who was arrested for DUI.

According to Verna, he was a nev'er do well and was involved with shady people---- and did not have a lot of control over who was coming in and out of his house at that time.....
(WHY?... Name WHO was staying at his house?.... his wife was in the hospital, couldn't he lock the doors of his house? that needed to be explained and explored as a double murderer was running loose)

The police investigated him and determined that his wife was in a hospital when the killings happened and FAMILY members State he was there with her....( Hmmmmm!)

Police investigated and determined it would have been impossible for him to drive to and from those locations.

He was evasive about who he may have loaned the gun to and is now dead also, so there is no way to find out. ( LE had many years to get these answers before Henry died)

I see this case as a simple one to have been solved after finding the murder weapon and with the info. from the KOA employee...so why wasn't it? ....How do you feel about this case?
 
Authorities thought they had their best lead yet when, about four months after the slayings, police found the gun they believe was the murder weapon.

A North Carolina man suspected of driving drunk was arrested while traveling through Latter, S.C.....

Is this a coincidence or what? You be the judge, I don't believe in Coincidences!

He had to have been very familiar with this area, to be driving drunk there. What was he doing there or where had he been?

Did anyone check Mapquest to see exactly where Latter, SC was? I found Latter just off I-95 a little north east of Florence, SC...

Very near where the murdered couple was found just off I-95 near the Florence Co. line!

Could L. Henry been checking on where the murdered couple's belongings had been thrown, stored or hidden ?????
 
Reannan said:
How much do we know about "Lonnie George Henry", the guy arrested for DUI who had the gun that killed the couple in his posession?

Seems to me, his family/friends would be an untapped source of possible information....
Click to expand...

Reannan...I agree, lets not leave out his son...
 
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