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

[Mando]

So I read that an investigator has a lead that could potentially be explosive and lead to an arrest/conviction. To my understanding the suspect or one of the suspects must still be alive. This case is so interesting, they could literally make a movie out of it. Such a shame that this happened to them.

 

[Sillybilly]

STOP with the posts that are judgmental and not victim friendly, and stop sleuthing the families of these victims.

Both of the above are a violation of Websleuths Terms of Service that you all agreed to upon joining Websleuths. Any further posts of this nature will result in loss of posting privileges.

Post accordingly or there will be consequences.

 

[onceuponadecember]

Hey guys, I made a google site with the timelines for Pam and James. You can view it here for reference purposes if you need it.

Cold Case Timelines

-Caspian

 

[Satchie]

This is a far-fetched theory but what if James and Pam were headed to Myrtle Beach? Oswego to Myrtle Beach is only about 2 1/4 hours away from Oswego, SC though.

I think it's a good assumption that they were travelling on the I-95, and that they'd chosen that route for a reason, ie to get from somewhere specific, to somewhere specific. Maybe driving at night because of the daytime heat.

 

[Triss]

So I read that an investigator has a lead that could potentially be explosive and lead to an arrest/conviction. To my understanding the suspect or one of the suspects must still be alive. This case is so interesting, they could literally make a movie out of it. Such a shame that this happened to them.

I wonder if LE came up with that lead because Pam and Jamie were identified? Or did the investigator discover that lead while they still were unidentified? Either way, I am hopeful that whoever is responsible for their deaths will not get away with murder. And honestly, that's all I've ever wanted for them - I wanted them to be buried under their real names and I wanted their killer(s) to rot in prison.

 

[Satchie]

I wonder if LE came up with that lead because Pam and Jamie were identified? Or did the investigator discover that lead while they still were unidentified? Either way, I am hopeful that whoever is responsible for their deaths will not get away with murder. And honestly, that's all I've ever wanted for them - I wanted them to be buried under their real names and I wanted their killer(s) to rot in prison.

IMO, once you know their names, you may be able to trace the vehicle they were in, and what happened to it. IMO vehicle registrations have been preserved, if only on microfilm, because they are so useful in solving long ago crimes and missing person cases.

 

[Satchie]

Just a comment that we had a case in 2019 where a man was killed and left without ID at a rest stop. He was from that region, and was missed, so family came forward when they saw the sketch. He had been carjacked by guys running from police: seems to me a likely scenario here.

 

[killarney rose]

I agree, there were no thrift stores back then, except church sales that would sell clothes of seniors who had died (I was there at the time!)

Not to make this a history lesson, but back then clothes weren't made in mass quantities in China, they were expensive, well made in America, and in comparison to now, hard to find. People didn't fake their identity, either. If your sweatshirt said Yale, it meant you went to Yale. And most people dressed nicely wherever they went, unless they were literally alcoholics living in the street, and those were very rare, or self-declared hippies, deliberately defying social norms with their messy, dirty clothing.

People might buy a van for a trip to where it was cooler, but I can't see anyone sleeping in a van in the southern US in August, even now. Fewer vehicles had air conditioning then, too.

In the other hand, motels and diners were cheap and plentiful.

IMO, not wearing underwear could just mean they had a bag of laundry that they were planning to run through a laundromat at their next stop...another thing I recall both me and my boyfriend doing a few years later.

I believe this was a carjacking, and that very likely they did pickup one or a pair of ruthless hitch-hikers, who stole their vehicle, their id and money, and all their other stuff.

The only problem was, they weren't in sufficiently close touch with anyone as they travelled, so there was no one to know that they hadn't arrived somewhere, and had been travelling through South Carolina to get there. Again, no internet back then. When they didn't get back in touch, each individual friend or family member would assume it was by choice, rather than assume they'd been murdered.

I was a teen back then. I graduated in ‘74. There were thrift stores back then. I was a regular at the Salvation Army and the Goodwill store. There was a huge one of each in Orlando back then, and I bought a lot of cool, funky , vintage clothes from them both.

 

[MajorHoople]

I am frankly doubtful about them being hitchhikers. The reason is because the reports on the case details indicate the tire tracks at the scene likely belonged to a van. It is possible the van was theirs (maybe a camper van?) and they were sleeping in it at campgrounds and then staying in motels every few days. I say this because Mrs Moore (the now deceased former Coroner) stated that the couple were very clean when they were found and that it appeared they had showered within the day or so before they were killed. That's why I really don't think they were hitchhiking. Also Miss Buckley had on open wedge heeled sandals which IMO would make walking/hitching very difficult, especially in the deep south in the summer. Anyone who has worn sandals in heat and humidity knows that your feet get raw pretty fast if you are walking a lot.

I tend to think you're on the right track. Most likely they had a vehicle that was stolen.

 

[theory]

I was thinking along the same lines. I hadn’t thought of an area but when the discussion about where they would sleep - I wanted to say that I was in the same generation. We would always head our vans out to lake areas and parks. Anywhere along the way where there were free water hookup, bathrooms and places to build a fire. Places close to a town Main Street off the strip for supplies. Music was everything to us back then. Pot was hot. Sitting around the campfire with guitars and singing. Free entertainment. Was there any kind of music festival going on nearby at the time?

There was a bluegrass festival in Galax, VA Aug 6,7 and 8th. I wonder if they could of been coming from that. It was called Stompin 76.

 

[wary]

I agree, there were no thrift stores back then, except church sales that would sell clothes of seniors who had died (I was there at the time!)

Not to make this a history lesson, but back then clothes weren't made in mass quantities in China, they were expensive, well made in America, and in comparison to now, hard to find. People didn't fake their identity, either. If your sweatshirt said Yale, it meant you went to Yale. And most people dressed nicely wherever they went, unless they were literally alcoholics living in the street, and those were very rare, or self-declared hippies, deliberately defying social norms with their messy, dirty clothing.

People might buy a van for a trip to where it was cooler, but I can't see anyone sleeping in a van in the southern US in August, even now. Fewer vehicles had air conditioning then, too.

In the other hand, motels and diners were cheap and plentiful.

IMO, not wearing underwear could just mean they had a bag of laundry that they were planning to run through a laundromat at their next stop...another thing I recall both me and my boyfriend doing a few years later.

I believe this was a carjacking, and that very likely they did pickup one or a pair of ruthless hitch-hikers, who stole their vehicle, their id and money, and all their other stuff.

The only problem was, they weren't in sufficiently close touch with anyone as they travelled, so there was no one to know that they hadn't arrived somewhere, and had been travelling through South Carolina to get there. Again, no internet back then. When they didn't get back in touch, each individual friend or family member would assume it was by choice, rather than assume they'd been murdered.

Hmm, I was alive then and shopping at thrift stores like mad. (I needed the money.) There were huge numbers of them on the West Coast—I can’t speak for other parts of the country. (One thing about them, styles changed in a way that they don’t now, so at that time, they’d be filled with mini-skirted dresses. )

No idea if they would have gone to one, though.

 

[fred&edna]

DBM

 

[Satchie]

I was a teen back then. I graduated in ‘74. There were thrift stores back then. I was a regular at the Salvation Army and the Goodwill store. There was a huge one of each in Orlando back then, and I bought a lot of cool, funky , vintage clothes from them both.

Good for you. Perhaps I'm wrong, but IMO people who were 10 years older and from the Midwest would have been unlikely to shop at Salvation Army...

 

[killarney rose]

My mother and neighbor used to go together. That’s what got me started. They were definitely older than me. After that, along about ‘75-‘76 I discovered yard sales and flea markets with an older friend.

Good for you. Perhaps I'm wrong, but IMO people who were 10 years older and from the Midwest would have been unlikely to shop at Salvation Army...

 

[Swamp Fox Trot]

This is a far-fetched theory but what if James and Pam were headed to Myrtle Beach? Oswego to Myrtle Beach is only about 2 1/4 hours away from Oswego, SC though.

Oswego isn't the crime scene, it's where they're buried. They were killed near the intersection of I-20 & I-95, which is kind of a crossroads for Myrtle Beach traffic.

 

[onceuponadecember]

Oswego isn't the crime scene, it's where they're buried. They were killed near the intersection of I-20 & I-95, which is kind of a crossroads for Myrtle Beach traffic.

Oh, thanks for your correction! I think that also might point towards them heading for Myrtle Beach.

 

[brm1960]

Agreed. I was quite surprised when the couple's photos were released to the public. Pamela was 24 when she was murdered, Jimmy was 29 and the pictures that were released show them at 18-19? Weird.
Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate that we're able to see what they looked like in life. I just wish the pictures were more recent. Especially for James, since he changed so much and seeing him in his late 20s could strike someone's memory. They travelled quite a bit, so I'm sure they met a lot of people.

In the seventies (the olden days) photographs were not so simple to make. A camera, flash bulbs or flash cubes and film were required, and exposed film was taken to chemist or drug store for developing. Sometimes exposed film was mailed to a processor for developing. Developing would take at least week.

After vacations and holidays people would have rolls of film to develop.

 

[Satchie]

In the seventies (the olden days) photographs were not so simple to make. A camera, flash bulbs or flash cubes and film were required, and exposed film was taken to chemist or drug store for developing. Sometimes exposed film was mailed to a processor for developing. Developing would take at least week.

After vacations and holidays people would have rolls of film to develop.

Also, the high school year book photos are professional headshots and are definitely identified as being them, whereas family/friend snapshots are not properly posed and reliably identified eg could be someone's look-alike sibling.

 

[worldwatcher]

So I read that an investigator has a lead that could potentially be explosive and lead to an arrest/conviction. To my understanding the suspect or one of the suspects must still be alive. This case is so interesting, they could literally make a movie out of it. Such a shame that this happened to them.

I hope so, the murders were brutal, tossing them over to their backs and the final shot under the chin, who ever did this, had to look them in the eye, during the final shot.
It's chilling.

It must be very hard for the family's to read this.

Also as for the PB and JF, it could be that they stayed on campgrounds, instead of motels, during their travels, I think most campgrounds did had facilities as showers, washing machines, etc.

 

[fred&edna]

Oswego isn't the crime scene, it's where they're buried. They were killed near the intersection of I-20 & I-95, which is kind of a crossroads for Myrtle Beach traffic.

I always associate the area with Myrtle Beach. We traveled through Sumter Co (once or twice each year from childhood thru my teen years) for our Myrtle Beach family vacations. I have fond memories of peach stands!