I was a freshman in high school when Jane Doe's body was discovered. I remember talking about it with one of my friends in band. He used to ride his dirt bike in the area. In recent years, I rediscovered the case online and even checked it out with my friend who recently retired as police chief. He wasn't chief in 1978, but he remembers the case and occasional inquiries from people working online and, in one case, a psychic. Granby passed the case on to the state police, who do all murder cases for our town. In 1978, no one on the Granby police force was really trained to do any work on the case. The GPD has very little information on file. After reading some of the misinformation about the case, I thought I would weigh in with some facts and thoughts. I sent corrections to the Doe Network and it now has a more accurate entry.
Amherst Street, Not Amherst Road
Jane Doe was discovered off of Amherst Street, NOT Amherst Road.
Amherst Street is a well-traveled street that runs from Route 202 to Route 116. (Amherst Road is actually part of Route 116). In 1978, the trails were not as popular or well-kept as they are now. The Notch Visitors Center that provides parking for the trails may not have been built. Up until the 1970s, there was a night club called Henri's on the site. I think it closed in the early 1980s, but I can't find anything online about it. At any rate, the trails, many of which were built during the Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps, lead nowhere near the Jane Doe site. In fact, they can't reach the site there is a lake in between.
College kids may have hitched on Amherst Road/Route 116 because it runs from UMass and Amherst College, past Hampshire College, and then Mount Holyoke College. Amherst Street, however, is perpendicular to Amherst Road; it doesn't lead to the colleges. I can't find corroboration for it, but there was likely free bus service along Amherst Road/Route 116. It was there in the early and mid-1980s and may have been available then. Hitch hiking was probably less popular than some have made it seem.
Amherst Street was a fairly busy street. It's not a leisurely country road. Traffic moves at 40-50 miles an hour. There is truck traffic. The street offers a convenient way to go from the Amherst area and Chicopee and the western parts of Springfield. Amherst Street crosses Aldrich Lake where fishing was and still is popular. In the early 70s, there was still an indoor pavilion that had been used as a roller skating rink earlier in the century. On the shores, there was also a Boy Scout camp.
The dump site was at least a half mile from the lake. One thing that hasn't been mentioned about that location is that big power lines run parallel to Amherst Street. I don't know the distance between the lines and the street, but because the land was mostly clear below the lines, people did ride dirt bikes out there. My friend in high school remarked about the body being near where he rode. I heard a rumor that police did target shooting out there, but I have no corroboration for that. I don't know about a gravel pit, but there were many around Granby in those days. There are houses in front of the site now, but there were houses in the area at that time. It was not a deserted country road.
The information about Jane Doe's is sparse. The most striking feature is that she had noticeable tooth decay. Although we might associate tooth decay with drug use, it's important to note that neither crystal meth nor crack were being smoked much, if at all, back then. My guess is that the poor condition of her teeth was due to poverty. Her clothes also suggest she might have been poor. Her hair seems to have been the nondescript color between blonde and brown. In 1978, forensics were relatively primitive, and her body was fairly well skeletonized. Most striking was the fact that she had a leather belt, perhaps to drag her to the burial site, around her neck. She was shot in the head, my friend the former police chief thinks, with a low caliber gun, a .22 or .32.
Some thoughts.
Granby is rural, but not isolated. The city of Holyoke is 15 minutes away, Springfield 25 minutes. The city of Chicopee shares a border with Granby. Hunting is less popular today than it was in 1978 when we had a class to get our Firearms Identification Cards. (A few years earlier kids brought their guns to school for the class). There is enough land where Jane Doe was found to hunt, though I'm not aware of people hunting there. Granby did have extensive, convenient land available for bird and deer hunting. Aldrich Lake never attracted thousands of people for fishing. It's not a vacation spot. There were always people fishing from shore and sometimes from canoes. That was it for recreation.
Granby Jane Doe was found on the eastern side of Amherst Street, off the side that is headed toward Amherst. This suggests that she might have been dumped from a vehicle coming from that direction. That's not a given, but it makes sense. There is one side street off of Amherst Street called Easton Street. It is not well-traveled, even today. It also enters at an awkward angle. Without evidence, I tend to think that the person who dumped the body was someone familiar with the road traveling from Holyoke, Chicopee, or Springfield. That's the direction the vehicle would have been coming from. Someone from Granby would probably have dumped the body in a more obscure location. There were plenty of dirt roads and places where someone could dump the body unseen. (In fact, the mafia dumped a body in one of these obscure areas on the other side of town. The body was found when a dog carried an arm back to his owner). The body was buried in a shallow grave and covered with a log. Perhaps the dump site was a matter of convenience.
Here are the key details from the Doe Network:
Date of Discovery: November 15, 1978
Estimated Date of Death: 3-12 months prior
Location: 600-700 feet off Amherst Street, Granby, Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Between Amherst Street and power lines
In a shallow grave beneath a log.
Near a gravel pit?
Cause of Death: Homicide by gunshot (low caliber)
Condition of Corpse: mostly skeletal
Gender: White female
Estimated Age: 19--26 years old
Hair Color: Light blonde or light brown, long.
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Chunky build.
Dentals: Unknown. Her front teeth had noticeable decay.
Clothing: jeans, a short-sleeved polka dot shirt with a swan embroidered on it, green collar. Vinyl wedgie-style shoes, blue tank top, and black windbreaker. Some jewelry present and a magnet in her pocket.
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown.
DNA: Unknown
