CANADA Canada - Glenda Tedball, 16, Thedford, Ont, 31 Oct 1967

Richard

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Glenda Tedball
Missing since October 31, 1967 from Thedford, Ontario, Canada.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: 1951
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old

Circumstances of Disappearance

Tedball was last seen when she left her residence heading for the back of the property and was seen by a neighbour. She has not been seen or heard from since. She lived with her mother and her companion and with her siblings near the village of Thedford north-west of London. She went to the local high school and has been described as very shy.

In September 1999, police charged Edward Graton, a 66-year-old London man, with culpable murder in this case. Since the arrest, investigators have had the foundations of the old farmhouse where Glenda Tedball lived, dug up. The house itself burned to the ground several years ago. Glenda has never been found.

Edward Gratton confessed to police that Glenda Tedball's death was caused by a home abortion carried out by her mother. She bled to death in the basement of her remote country home as Gratton held her down by the shoulders and her mother performed an abortion with a coat hanger.

Gratton helped tie Glenda's wrists and ankles to a cot in the basement and when she struggled as she bled, he held her down, putting a gag in her mouth.

Although Gratton told police the teenager was buried under the farmhouse, a recent excavation failed to turn up her remains.

In 2000, Gratton began two years of a community sentence to pay for his crime. Glenda's mother Norma Poore died in 1999.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Ontario Provincial Police
519-686-2552

Source Information:
Ontario Provincial Police
The Doe Network: Case File 553DFON

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/553dfon.html
 
Bumping case up. She was actually only 16 not 17 as stated in the thread title.

It will be 42 years this Halloween that Glenda disappeared. It would appear that the case was solved ten years ago when the Mounties got their man and he confessed. But was it a true confession, or just a story to involve and villify others?

Good to see that he has paid for Glenda's death with two years of communtity service. That ought to be a lesson for anyone who thinks about committing a crime in Canada.

At this time, Glenda is still missing.
 
Bumping case up. 45 years have passed...
 
Bumping case up. She was actually only 16 not 17 as stated in the thread title.

It will be 42 years this Halloween that Glenda disappeared. It would appear that the case was solved ten years ago when the Mounties got their man and he confessed. But was it a true confession, or just a story to involve and villify others?

Good to see that he has paid for Glenda's death with two years of communtity service. That ought to be a lesson for anyone who thinks about committing a crime in Canada.

At this time, Glenda is still missing.

I am pretty local to this case, although its before my time.

IRC the story was that Glenda stayed home from school sick and siblings went to school. About noon, Glenda went for a walk in the woods and was never seen again.

About 15 years ago (1998 or 99 I think) the case was in the media again. The OPP and the London City Police had a joint task force called "Project Angel". They were re-opening/re-examining several unsolved disappearances and murders that were historic. Glenda's case was one of them.

If I remember correctly, Glenda's mother was still alive at this point and was re-interviewed by police on what was literally her death bed. SHE confessed to the abortion and subsequent death of Glenda. She then died. Gratton then confessed shortly thereafter, confirming the mother's story.

Based on that info, I think its pretty likely that the abortion story is true and that its just a matter of locating Glenda's body. This is all from my recollection but I will see if I can find MSM links (although with the time frame I think it might be hard to do).
 
Here is a link into which someone has c&p several of the old London Free Press articles about Glenda from the Project Angel time period. I am copying one in and linking.

The following appears courtesy of the 9/27/99 Canadian Press news wire:

Sep 27, 1999

Arrest made in 30-year-old case

LONDON, Ont. (CP) - A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the case
of a southwestern Ontario teenager who disappeared on Halloween more than 30
years ago.

Glenda Tedball was 16 years old in 1967 when she went missing from her home
near Thedford, about 45 kilometres northwest of London, on Oct. 31.

A body was never found but police are continuing to search for one.

The arrest of 66-year-old Edward Gratton, of London, on Friday is the result of
an ongoing joint investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police and London city
police known as Project Angel.

Project Angel is looking into 20 unsolved murders in southwestern Ontario
dating between to 1956 and 1983.

The arrest of Gratton for the 1967 murder is the ``first significant
development'' for the police task force since its formation three years ago,
said London police Chief Al Gramolini.

He said he is ``very pleased we've been able to successfully conclude one of
those cases, not only for the community, but the families involved.''

Tedball went missing from her family farm home after going out for a walk in
the morning. She had been home sick from classes at North Middlesex District
High School in Parkhill, near Thedford, and was last seen walking toward the
woods on the 50-hectare farm.

Despite exhaustive searches and pleas from her family, no trace of the teen was
ever found.

Neighbours reported police were digging Sunday at part of the old foundation of
the farmhouse near Parkhill, once owned by Tedball's family.

The farmhouse burned down some time after Glenda's disappearance and was never
replaced.

After the house fire, the family sold the farm and it has since been used only
for crops.

Project Angel went public with its investigations two years ago when it
announced it was starting to gather DNA and other forensic evidence from the
Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto.

Since then, officers have interviewed families and witnesses and made public
appeals for tips.

Gratton, who recently moved to London from Belleville, grew up in Thedford,
about 10 kilometres from where Glenda Tedball lived, his brother Louis Gratton
of Stratford said last night.

Gratton was to appear in a London court today. (London Free Press)

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups=#!topic/alt.true-crime/zfy6wt5ic7M
 
50 years ago this month. To me, Gratton's "yarn" seems to raise more questions than it answers.
 
Just horrible! I can't imagine! Gratton, the farmhand that held her down, is said to have been the one that got her pregnant. Is there any source on if it was sexual assault? I don't believe it to have been consensual.
 
It has been 51 years since Glenda went missing. If one believes the two death bed confessions mentioned in earlier posts, then it would seem likely that her body is buried somewhere near or on the home farm and the location of her grave was probably mentioned to police. Yet she remains missing.
 
GTedball.jpg


Glenda Tedball
Missing since October 31, 1967 from Thedford, Ontario, Canada.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
    • Date Of Birth: 1951
    • Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
    • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'6"; 138 lbs.
    • Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Tedball was last seen when she left her residence heading for the back of the property and was seen by a neighbor. She has not been seen or heard from since.

She lived with her mother and her companion and with her siblings near the village of Thedford northwest of London. She went to the local high school and has been described as very shy. In September 1999, police charged Edward Graton, a 66-year-old London man, with culpable murder in this case. Since the arrest, investigators have had the foundations of the old farmhouse where Glenda Tedball lived, dug up. The house itself burned to the ground several years ago. Glenda has never been found.

Edward Gratton confessed to police that Glenda Tedball's death was caused by a home abortion carried out by her mother. She bled to death in the basement of her remote country home as Gratton held her down by the shoulders and her mother performed an abortion with a coat hanger. Gratton helped tie Glenda's wrists and ankles to a cot in the basement and when she struggled as she bled, he held her down, putting a gag in her mouth. Although Gratton told police the teenager was buried under the farmhouse, a recent excavation failed to turn up her remains. In 2000, Gratton began two years of a community sentence to pay for his crime. Glenda's mother Norma Poore died in 1999.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Ontario Provincial Police
519-686-2552


Source Information:
Ontario Provincial Police
The Doe Network: Case File 553DFON
 
Hello! I've just come across this site, and I've been thinking about this story for many years. I have a story that connects to it; I'll leave it to you to tell me if it has merit.

In 2007, I'd just started a new job in London, Ontario and I was meeting my new colleagues for the first time. It came up in conversation that a co-worker of mine also grew up near Parkhill, as did I, and even though he was about 30 years older than I was, we talked about people and places we both knew from the local area.

One day, my co-worker started talking about Glenda Tedball. He said, 'I think I know where she was buried.' Now I knew Glenda's mother personally, but only when I was young; before I'd personally become aware of Glenda's story, her mother had passed away. I never knew Glenda myself. Anyway, the story my colleague told me went like this...

He was a neighbour of Glenda's, and a few years older than she was. He'd visited Glenda's family home frequently in a neighbourly capacity, and was quite familiar with the layout of the property. He went over along with some of his friends sometime in the few days after Glenda had disappeared - whether it was to help search for her or not, I don't remember the reason he told me.

He said when he arrived at the property, he saw a new garden plot that hadn't been there before. It struck him as odd, considering it was in November, but he never said anything to anyone at the time. Obviously, she was not presumed dead in those early days, and that she might have been buried by her mother just steps from her front door would have been unthinkable. I asked if he could find the spot again, and he said it was near the house, but that the house wasn't standing anymore so he wasn't sure if he could find the spot again. I suggested he go to the police with this info, but he didn't commit to doing that. Several months later, he left my place of employment. I read his obituary several years after that, so going to the police is now definitely not an option for him.

I wonder if this garden came up in the investigation? If the police searched under the house, did they search beside it as well? I know this is just a second-hand story, but my colleague seemed knowledgeable and sincere. This conversation has been weighing on me - if this post helps bring closure in this case, I'm glad to have written it.

If anyone reading this has any thoughts or guidance, please reply. Beyond giving the specific details of the person who told me this story and where and when we had the conversation, I've just now provided every detail he gave me.

Thanks
 
Hello! I've just come across this site, and I've been thinking about this story for many years. I have a story that connects to it; I'll leave it to you to tell me if it has merit.

In 2007, I'd just started a new job in London, Ontario and I was meeting my new colleagues for the first time. It came up in conversation that a co-worker of mine also grew up near Parkhill, as did I, and even though he was about 30 years older than I was, we talked about people and places we both knew from the local area.

One day, my co-worker started talking about Glenda Tedball. He said, 'I think I know where she was buried.' Now I knew Glenda's mother personally, but only when I was young; before I'd personally become aware of Glenda's story, her mother had passed away. I never knew Glenda myself. Anyway, the story my colleague told me went like this...

He was a neighbour of Glenda's, and a few years older than she was. He'd visited Glenda's family home frequently in a neighbourly capacity, and was quite familiar with the layout of the property. He went over along with some of his friends sometime in the few days after Glenda had disappeared - whether it was to help search for her or not, I don't remember the reason he told me.

He said when he arrived at the property, he saw a new garden plot that hadn't been there before. It struck him as odd, considering it was in November, but he never said anything to anyone at the time. Obviously, she was not presumed dead in those early days, and that she might have been buried by her mother just steps from her front door would have been unthinkable. I asked if he could find the spot again, and he said it was near the house, but that the house wasn't standing anymore so he wasn't sure if he could find the spot again. I suggested he go to the police with this info, but he didn't commit to doing that. Several months later, he left my place of employment. I read his obituary several years after that, so going to the police is now definitely not an option for him.

I wonder if this garden came up in the investigation? If the police searched under the house, did they search beside it as well? I know this is just a second-hand story, but my colleague seemed knowledgeable and sincere. This conversation has been weighing on me - if this post helps bring closure in this case, I'm glad to have written it.

If anyone reading this has any thoughts or guidance, please reply. Beyond giving the specific details of the person who told me this story and where and when we had the conversation, I've just now provided every detail he gave me.

Thanks

An interesting narrative which could be of use to police investigators. There are ways to search property which might indicate under ground anomalies such as graves.

I would urge you to contact the investigative agency in charge of the case and let them know what information you have.
 
An interesting narrative which could be of use to police investigators. There are ways to search property which might indicate under ground anomalies such as graves.

I would urge you to contact the investigative agency in charge of the case and let them know what information you have.

Thank you for your reply, Richard. I think I just needed a bit of validation that there _might_ be something to this story, and I appreciate you and the other forum members for providing that reassurance. I would certainly hate to waste investigators' time.

I have copied my original post in an email to the OPP.
 
Thank you for your reply, Richard. I think I just needed a bit of validation that there _might_ be something to this story, and I appreciate you and the other forum members for providing that reassurance. I would certainly hate to waste investigators' time.

I have copied my original post in an email to the OPP.

I hope that they carefully consider and act on your information.
 

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