nerosleuth
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On the morning of Wednesday November 12, 1980, Lynn Vest was a twenty three year old mother who baby sat her 2 ½ year old nephew Jeremy Pickens each weekday at her home on the east side of Columbus while his parents were at work.
Lynn Vest told her husband that morning that she had a couple of errands to run. The young married couple only had one car. Lynn was mindful of the fact that her husband had to be on time for his second shift job.
Lynn had planned to take her one year old son along with her on her errands, but her baby son was cranky that morning, so she put him down for a nap. Lynns 2 ½ year old nephew was ready and eager to go along with his aunt on her errands.
Shortly after 11:00 a.m. that morning, while her husband stayed at home to take care of their one year old son, Lynn Vest and her 2 ½ year old nephew Jeremy Pickens left home in her husbands 1979 blue Mustang Cobra hatchback.
Lynns husband became concerned when his wife and nephew didnt return home from their errands as expected. Sensing that something wasnt right, he contacted his wifes father on the telephone. Lynns father was a detective with the Columbus Police Department.
Lynns father immediately filed a missing person report at police headquarters on his missing twenty three year old daughter Lynn Vest and his 2 ½ year old grandson Jeremy Pickens. Lynns father personally called the radio room at every suburban police department and the county sheriffs office to be on the lookout for a blue 1979 Mustang Cobra hatchback.
Twelve hours after Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens left home to run errands, two Columbus police officers were driving through a mostly empty parking lot at the corner of Berkeley Road and East Main Street on the east side of Columbus when they happened to notice a blue Mustang Cobra hatchback parked by itself in the back of the parking lot.
The police officers checked the vehicle and made a grisly discovery. The bodies of Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens were found partially hidden by a white sheet and towel in the hatchback.
Lynn Vest had been strangled and her nephew Jeremy Pickens had been suffocated.
After the homicide was reported in the Columbus news media, several witnesses contacted Columbus Police investigators to report that they either had seen Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens on their errands or had seen the car that day on the east side of Columbus and in the suburb of Whitehall.
One female witness reported that she had seen a woman in a blue Mustang putting air in her tire at the Save Mart gas station on South Hamilton Road near East Main Street in Whitehall. The gas station was eight blocks away from the Vests home.
The female witness also noticed that two black men were near the blue Mustang and seemed to be harassing the woman who was putting air into the tire. One of the black men was leaning against a white car while the other black man was giving the woman grief.
Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens were also seen at the Ohio State Bank branch at Great Eastern Shopping Center on South Hamilton Road where she deposited two checks and got $126 back in cash. They were also seen by a clerk working at the Woolco department store on East Broad Street in Whitehall.
Another female witness reported that between noon and 1:00 pm, she saw a black man driving a blue Mustang Cobra in her neighborhood just south of the Woolco store. The female witness also noticed that a white woman in the passenger seat seemed to be leaning, perhaps slumped against the window.
A male eyewitness eating lunch at a restaurant at the intersection of Main Street and James Road saw a black man driving a blue Mustang but not very well. The car was lurching as if the driver didnt know how to use a clutch. He also saw a white woman in the passenger seat.
Several witnesses told police that they saw the blue Mustang in the parking lot at various times during that day where it was eventually found by police.
A couple living in an apartment building next to the parking lot saw a black man getting out of the blue Mustang in the parking lot and hop into a waiting white car.
While police have not been able to determine where the actual homicide took place, they were able to obtain good DNA samples taken from evidence in the Mustang.
No matches have ever been made through the national DNA database, but police know the DNA samples came from two men and hair that was recovered from the Mustang came from a black man.
Lynn Vests purse was missing and her wedding rings also were gone.
Columbus Police cold case homicide detective Bill Gillette speculates that whatever confrontation Lynn had that day clearly angered her attackers. He also believes that 2 ½ year old Jeremy Pickens was murdered on account of witnessing his aunts murder and the possibility that he could identify his aunts attackers.
No arrests have been made and the murder of twenty three year old Lynn Vest and her 2 ½ year old nephew Jeremy Pickens remains unsolved to this day.
Sources:
Aunt, boy went on errands on East side in 1980, were later found slain
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/01/02/kin-vanished.html
http://www.dispatch.com/content/gra...19-art1-g6614v6si-11224gfx-coldcase19-eps.jpg
Case Involving Woman, 2 Year Old Nephew Deaths Still Haunts Investigators
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories...nephews-death-still-haunts-investigators.html
Youtube Video Cold Case Lynn Vest Jeremy Pickens
[video=youtube;su01ytFX6eQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su01ytFX6eQ&app=desktop[/video]
Lynn Vest told her husband that morning that she had a couple of errands to run. The young married couple only had one car. Lynn was mindful of the fact that her husband had to be on time for his second shift job.
Lynn had planned to take her one year old son along with her on her errands, but her baby son was cranky that morning, so she put him down for a nap. Lynns 2 ½ year old nephew was ready and eager to go along with his aunt on her errands.
Shortly after 11:00 a.m. that morning, while her husband stayed at home to take care of their one year old son, Lynn Vest and her 2 ½ year old nephew Jeremy Pickens left home in her husbands 1979 blue Mustang Cobra hatchback.
Lynns husband became concerned when his wife and nephew didnt return home from their errands as expected. Sensing that something wasnt right, he contacted his wifes father on the telephone. Lynns father was a detective with the Columbus Police Department.
Lynns father immediately filed a missing person report at police headquarters on his missing twenty three year old daughter Lynn Vest and his 2 ½ year old grandson Jeremy Pickens. Lynns father personally called the radio room at every suburban police department and the county sheriffs office to be on the lookout for a blue 1979 Mustang Cobra hatchback.
Twelve hours after Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens left home to run errands, two Columbus police officers were driving through a mostly empty parking lot at the corner of Berkeley Road and East Main Street on the east side of Columbus when they happened to notice a blue Mustang Cobra hatchback parked by itself in the back of the parking lot.
The police officers checked the vehicle and made a grisly discovery. The bodies of Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens were found partially hidden by a white sheet and towel in the hatchback.
Lynn Vest had been strangled and her nephew Jeremy Pickens had been suffocated.
After the homicide was reported in the Columbus news media, several witnesses contacted Columbus Police investigators to report that they either had seen Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens on their errands or had seen the car that day on the east side of Columbus and in the suburb of Whitehall.
One female witness reported that she had seen a woman in a blue Mustang putting air in her tire at the Save Mart gas station on South Hamilton Road near East Main Street in Whitehall. The gas station was eight blocks away from the Vests home.
The female witness also noticed that two black men were near the blue Mustang and seemed to be harassing the woman who was putting air into the tire. One of the black men was leaning against a white car while the other black man was giving the woman grief.
Lynn Vest and Jeremy Pickens were also seen at the Ohio State Bank branch at Great Eastern Shopping Center on South Hamilton Road where she deposited two checks and got $126 back in cash. They were also seen by a clerk working at the Woolco department store on East Broad Street in Whitehall.
Another female witness reported that between noon and 1:00 pm, she saw a black man driving a blue Mustang Cobra in her neighborhood just south of the Woolco store. The female witness also noticed that a white woman in the passenger seat seemed to be leaning, perhaps slumped against the window.
A male eyewitness eating lunch at a restaurant at the intersection of Main Street and James Road saw a black man driving a blue Mustang but not very well. The car was lurching as if the driver didnt know how to use a clutch. He also saw a white woman in the passenger seat.
Several witnesses told police that they saw the blue Mustang in the parking lot at various times during that day where it was eventually found by police.
A couple living in an apartment building next to the parking lot saw a black man getting out of the blue Mustang in the parking lot and hop into a waiting white car.
While police have not been able to determine where the actual homicide took place, they were able to obtain good DNA samples taken from evidence in the Mustang.
No matches have ever been made through the national DNA database, but police know the DNA samples came from two men and hair that was recovered from the Mustang came from a black man.
Lynn Vests purse was missing and her wedding rings also were gone.
Columbus Police cold case homicide detective Bill Gillette speculates that whatever confrontation Lynn had that day clearly angered her attackers. He also believes that 2 ½ year old Jeremy Pickens was murdered on account of witnessing his aunts murder and the possibility that he could identify his aunts attackers.
No arrests have been made and the murder of twenty three year old Lynn Vest and her 2 ½ year old nephew Jeremy Pickens remains unsolved to this day.
Sources:
Aunt, boy went on errands on East side in 1980, were later found slain
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/01/02/kin-vanished.html
http://www.dispatch.com/content/gra...19-art1-g6614v6si-11224gfx-coldcase19-eps.jpg
Case Involving Woman, 2 Year Old Nephew Deaths Still Haunts Investigators
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories...nephews-death-still-haunts-investigators.html
Youtube Video Cold Case Lynn Vest Jeremy Pickens
[video=youtube;su01ytFX6eQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su01ytFX6eQ&app=desktop[/video]
