There's a video segment from last night's news here: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/S ... 9RnNQ.cspxOvid, Seneca County (WSYR-TV / AP) – This Saturday marks 24 years since a young Minnesota woman was murdered in the Seneca County Town of Ovid.
Twenty-year-old Kristin O'Connell was visiting a friend she met while on vacation in Florida. She went for a walk, and was found dead later that day.
State police have developed a timeline with the hope it will help solve this case.
O'Connell left a trailer at 11:30 the night of August 14, 1985. At the trailer there was a small gathering with booze. O’Connell didn't want to be a part of it.
“She was never involved in drugs, she was not an alcohol drinker,” says State Police Investigator Jeffery Arnold.
It appeared as though she just wanted some alone time, and walked barefoot down County Route 139.
By 11:55 p.m. she had company.
“Whether they were talking to her, whether they were trying to convince her to get in the car, we don't believe they were trying to force her into the car. But that car was then seen pulling away and another car seen pulling up,” Arnold says.
It was just after midnight; O’Connell was making the 1/4 mile trip back up toward the trailer. State police say witnesses told them there were two men following her, about 50 yards back.
Her body was found in a nearby cornfield with her throat slashed at 5:10 p.m. the following day.
One week later, on August 23, 1985, the state police barracks in Auburn fielded an anonymous call.
“Don't interrupt me. Do you want the guy that killed that guy or, ah, that girl? Go ahead. You look at, ah, behind the Chevy - the green Chevy - on Main Street in Waterloo and you'll find him. And if you open the trunk - if you open the trunk you'll find what you want,” said the caller.
It prompted little action at the time. And the investigators working this case didn't know the call - a potential witness - existed until a year ago. It's a new lead they hope will help them to finally make an arrest.
The men who were spotted following O’Connell were described as young, between 16 and 17 years old and of thin build.
One was about six feet tall; the other a little shorter. Both had longer hair.
State police say they've been promised $40,000 in funds by Seneca County to enlist a Dutch forensic team that specializes in touch DNA techniques to solve cold-case homicides. But they say Wednesday that Health Department officials are blocking the test because the Amsterdam lab isn't certified in New York.
Anyone with information that might help police should call Investigator Arnold at 585-398-4123.
I lived in FL when this happened, but the guy who Kristin was visiting lived right across the street from my mom. Her body was found within 1/4 mile of my mom's place. I can't begin to tell you how many nights I walked that very same stretch of road.