Identified! Mystery couple murdered in South Carolina, 1976 - Pamela Buckley & James P Freund #8

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The following ran in The Item newspaper on August 12, 2001.

The Mystery: No I.D., No Leads, No Justice
By Sharyn Lucas-Parker, Senior Staff Writer, The Item

In August of 1976, a woman and a man were found slain beside a dirt road in Sumter County. The deaths are unsolved and they still are unidentified. But they are not forgotten

The two people buried in Bethel United Methodist Church cemetery whose bronze plaques read ''Male Unknown, Aug. 9, 1976," and ''Female Unknown, Aug. 9, 1976,'' never attended a service at the Oswego church or paid tithes there. But for the past 24 years, the members of the church have made sure their resting places remain free of weeds and overgrown grass and that fresh bouquets of flowers mark their graves.

There has been no one else to do it.

''If it were some of our children, we would hope someone would do the same thing for us,'' said the Rev. Michael Henderson, who has been the pastor for six years. ''It's part of that 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'"

Somewhere, perhaps thousands of miles away, or maybe just a state or even only a county over, local authorities believe there are heart-sick relatives who might suspect, but don't know for certain, their loved ones are dead.

Twenty-eight years after the young woman and man were found dead on a dark, secluded Sumter County dirt road between Interstate 95 and S.C. 341, their identities as well as that of their killer or killers remain a mystery.

That thought haunts Sumter County Coroner Verna Moore and drives her to continue trying to find the answers she needs to solve this puzzle that dates back to Aug. 9, 1976.

"I have not given up on this case,'' said Moore, who was deputy coroner back then. ''The reason I am haunted is, I cannot understand how two young people disappeared from somewhere and that their parents would not be looking for them. This does not make sense to me. Somebody somewhere is missing a son or a daughter.''

The case also bothers Sumter County Sheriff Tommy Mims, who was an investigator with the sheriff's office at the time.

''This is one of several cases over the years that we would certainly love to bring to a close so we can identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice on this,'' Mims said.

The story begins around 6:20 a.m. on August 9, when a trucker driving along what was commonly known as Locklair Road, a frontage road just off the interstate, stopped to rest.

Instead, he found a disturbing scene: Two people lying by the road.

Links: http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/mystery_couple/
 
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SUMTER MYSTERY COUPLE....WHO ARE THEY?
980021755632381b43ded286eabbc990


Composite courtesy of Carl Koppelman
CLUES:
1. The John Doe was wearing a linde star ring with the initials "JPF" inscribed in it.
2. The John Doe had a pack of matches from "Grant's" truck stop. There are three Grant's truck stops in the US; (York, NE), (Lupton, AZ) and (boise, ID).
3. A mechanic in York, NE stated he thought he had worked on a van with WA or OR plates that matched the couple's description.
4. The Jane Doe has two distinctive moles on her left cheek.
5. The John Doe had a "1975 IMSA( International Motor Sports Association) Camel GT" shirt from the 1975 IMSA Sebring race in Florida. This shirt was only sold at the Florida Sebring race. Some people have speculated that the John Doe might have a connection to IMSA racing. In fact, the weekend the couple was murdered there was an IMSA race at Talladega Motor Speedway. It be might be possible they attended the race and were on their way back home.
 
rbbm.
Sumter's 1976 John and Jane Doe remains identified, to be revealed

Sketches of John and Jane Doe were published for years in an attempt to identify the remains found off I-95 in Sumter County in 1976.

''According to Deputy Adrienne Sarvis, public information officer for the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, the man was from Pennsylvania, and the woman was from Minnesota, not Wisconsin as other outlets previously reported.

No arrest has ever been made in the case.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. on Thursday to provide an update on the cold case.''
 
A poster in the other thread did an awesome job finding the apparent names of the two males from "Sunlending."

Neither one matched her husband. The two names are John Daly and Anthony Matthews

Do we know if either of the two males are still living? I was looking at the guy on the right and wondered if he is our Jock Doe. He has pretty bushy eyebrows, a narrow jaw and the same shape of lips as Jock. Here's two side by side of them. Unfortunately, the Jock pic is a post mortem image. What do you think?

Edited I meant guy on right
 

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Do we know if either of the two males are still living? I was looking at the guy on the right and wondered if he is our Jock Doe. He has pretty bushy eyebrows, a narrow jaw and the same shape of lips as Jock. Here's two side by side of them. Unfortunately, the Jock pic is a post mortem image. What do you think?

Edited I meant guy on right

The guy on the right looks a lot older to me. Also John Doe seems to have a more olive-toned complexion with darker hair.
 
The guy on the right looks a lot older to me. Also John Doe seems to have a more olive-toned complexion with darker hair.

Yes, he does have a much olive toned skin. It's kind of hard to tell what colour his hair is. It's hard to judge his age. I thought if they were in a folk trio they'd all be around the same age.
 
Do we know if either of the two males are still living? I was looking at the guy on the right and wondered if he is our Jock Doe. He has pretty bushy eyebrows, a narrow jaw and the same shape of lips as Jock. Here's two side by side of them. Unfortunately, the Jock pic is a post mortem image. What do you think?

Edited I meant guy on right

Thanks for the side by side. I see some similarities. Eye brows, downturned eyes, the distance from upper lip to nose.

With regards to complexion, he could have been tanned due to it being summer and being outside a lot/taking a lot of sun.
 
Do we know if either of the two males are still living? I was looking at the guy on the right and wondered if he is our Jock Doe. He has pretty bushy eyebrows, a narrow jaw and the same shape of lips as Jock. Here's two side by side of them. Unfortunately, the Jock pic is a post mortem image. What do you think?

Edited I meant guy on right

I intentionally didn't look up the two male names. I prefer some suspense to the end, since I'm fairly confident the female name is correct.

If she was a member of a group the other case I remember was Mia Zapata. Vastly different circumstances, obviously. But those guys were anything but shy in terms of speaking to the media and paying tribute to Mia while helping to catch her killer. I hope these two guys -- if still alive -- will follow suit.

Let's face it, any relative or friend who starts checking out this case online will be stunned at how much interest level and research there was. I always wonder about that type of thing. Unfortunately not too many register and participate. But they have to be reading.

BTW, someone on Reddit posted tonight that the presser was delayed by one day because the guy who runs the sumtermysterycouple.com website could not attend Wednesday so they waited until he could be there. Apparently he played a major role in pushing this case toward resolution. Today he updated his site to include his name for the first time. He says he has additional information that he plans to release, along with a book on the case that he hopes to publish by the end of the year.

I've always appreciated that site except for all the ridiculous theories he mentions toward the end. I hope that junk is excluded from the book. There is no reason to include every bit of nutcase material like a CIA mobster as if it were legitimate debate within this case
 
I intentionally didn't look up the two male names. I prefer some suspense to the end, since I'm fairly confident the female name is correct.

If she was a member of a group the other case I remember was Mia Zapata. Vastly different circumstances, obviously. But those guys were anything but shy in terms of speaking to the media and paying tribute to Mia while helping to catch her killer. I hope these two guys -- if still alive -- will follow suit.

Let's face it, any relative or friend who starts checking out this case online will be stunned at how much interest level and research there was. I always wonder about that type of thing. Unfortunately not too many register and participate. But they have to be reading.

BTW, someone on Reddit posted tonight that the presser was delayed by one day because the guy who runs the sumtermysterycouple.com website could not attend Wednesday so they waited until he could be there. Apparently he played a major role in pushing this case toward resolution. Today he updated his site to include his name for the first time. He says he has additional information that he plans to release, along with a book on the case that he hopes to publish by the end of the year.

I've always appreciated that site except for all the ridiculous theories he mentions toward the end. I hope that junk is excluded from the book. There is no reason to include every bit of nutcase material like a CIA mobster as if it were legitimate debate within this case

I thought you gave the names of the two male members in an earlier post? Are we not talking about the same people?
 
Yes, he does have a much olive toned skin. It's kind of hard to tell what colour his hair is. It's hard to judge his age. I thought if they were in a folk trio they'd all be around the same age.
I do see some resemblance. Maybe that was at the start of their life 'on the road' when the photo was taken and after awhile he got more tanned. Also, I wonder if he is the John Daly guy or the other guy. If so, his name makes me think of the JPF engraving, as in Jacque.
 
If it is Pam Buckley (and maybe it's not - I agree about the hair being the wrong colour but perhaps it was dyed at some point. I found this reference in the local Redwood Falls, Minnesota newspaper :
• Pamela Buckley, chosen the Redwood Jaycees Sno-Queen in February and set to become Miss Redwood Falls 1971, abdicated the throne to tour the west coast with the folk-singing trio “Sunlending.” Backward Glances: Football player poet gets revenge against his English class
So was she hitchhiking around the US with the band Sunlending?
Do you think the woman in this photo of the band could be Jane Doe?
VANv11iss19p18001
Just speculation as I'm desperately waiting for any news like everyone else. Please go easy on me! It's my first ever post :)

Hi @WhiteDragon welcome. Nothing wrong with the post, actually the opposite.
 
Sorry if this has been said earlier in the thread, but will LE be releasing their identities or will they be withheld? I'd love to finally get their names, but I also understand if their families decide to withhold their identities for whatever reason.
 
Sorry if this has been said earlier in the thread, but will LE be releasing their identities or will they be withheld? I'd love to finally get their names, but I also understand if their families decide to withhold their identities for whatever reason.

They are releasing them in a press conference 1/21 at 2 PM local time. So in about 11 hours if my math is correct. I believe unidentified murder victim's names are always released, but family can choose in suicides or accidents. (i.e. Lyle Stevik, Laundry Lady, Mostly Harmless, etc.) I may be wrong though. But we will know their names soon in any case.
 
They are releasing them in a press conference 1/21 at 2 PM local time. So in about 11 hours if my math is correct. I believe unidentified murder victim's names are always released, but family can choose in suicides or accidents. (i.e. Lyle Stevik, Laundry Lady, Mostly Harmless, etc.) I may be wrong though. But we will know their names soon in any case.
That's amazing! I know multiple formerly unidentified murder victims that haven't had their identity released for whatever reason, so it's definitely a possibility that they could have their identity withheld. But I'm glad they're releasing them!
 
I am completely horrified that I ever posted photos of the wrong Pamela Buckley on that thread. I’ve been beside myself since yesterday thinking this could be our Doe. I feel, in some way, responsible for her not being identified sooner, if it is her...and I believe it is.

People messaged me privately, telling me it wasn’t the right Pam, and I got so caught up in my own life that I relied on others to correct her thread. I should have checked back in on her. I am SO sorry for the confusion that I’ve caused, and believe me when I say, I learned my lesson back when I *advertiser censored**** up on her thread in the beginning. My research is much more thorough and accurate now. Although, it may be awhile before I post anything like this again.

I’m happy, as always, identifications have been made!! Especially in this case!
 
According to the local news "The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. on Thursday to provide an update on the cold case."

it's here: Sumter's 1976 John and Jane Doe remains identified, to be revealed

Hopefully that update will be their names. The webpage for the Sheriff's Office doesn't say anything about it
 
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