Kathy Gloddy
The ABC News magazine 20/20 will bring national eyes to the November 1971 unsolved murder of Kathy Lynn Gloddy, the 13-year-old girl who was beaten, raped, hit over the head, and run over by a car at least four times and left on a logging road.
Kathy Lynn’s family has never given up the hope that those responsible for the brutal murder of their youngest sister would be brought to justice.
“We are excited that 20/20 has chosen to take on Kathy’s case,” remarked Janet Gloddy Young, one of Kathy’s three sisters. “We are hoping through continued media exposure and through the creation of the Kathy Lynn Gloddy Reward Fund we will be able to find some answers and peace for our family.
News crews spent some time in Franklin filming the area off Webster Road where Kathy Lynn’s body was found and taping the candlelight and daisy vigil family and friends held for Kathy Lynn this past summer.
In addition, retired Massachusetts Police Chief and Detective Thomas Shamshak has been helping the family not only with their search for justice but with their efforts to create and fund the first-ever cold-case unit in the state.
After the Gloddy sisters spent months testifying in both the state Senate and the N.H. House of Representatives, Gov. John D. Lynch signed the New Hampshire Cold Case unit into law in the Governor and Council’s room with the family invited as special guests.
The murder investigation has taken a number of twists and turns recently, most notably when elderly Florida resident Ernest Dukette went into a police department and said he believed he was with Kathy Lynn when she died but could not remember if he had raped her.
Although Dukette later recanted his statements, saying he was ill and confused from various medications he was taking, New Hampshire authorities reopened the case and exhumed Kathy Lynn’s body in hopes modern DNA mapping techniques could be used to either confirm or deny his statements.
Dukette died in August at Old Town, Fla., and never spoke another public word about Kathy Lynn and what he may have known about her murder.
Kathy Lynn’s brother, Roger, now living in Colorado, has said Dukette had a reputation for drinking and being rough with women.
While Dukette took his secrets to the grave with him, Senior Assistant State Attorney Will Delker said the case would continue to be open and his investigators had reason to believe that more than one person was involved in KathyLynn’s murder.
The last night of Kathy Lynn’s life, the young athlete, poet, and conservationist took her German Shepherd out for a walk and stopped by a variety store for ice cream and a can of potato sticks — her favorites. She never made it back to her home. more info
