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Post by jason on Oct 18, 2015 16:04:47 GMT -5
I was born in 1966 and raised in the Elmira area, I had never heard about this murder until the article was published in the Star Gazette last year (which is bizarre considering my fascination with unsolved homicides). I'm wondering if anyone ever took a second look at the man who found her body? It's not unheard of for a killer to interject himself into a murder investigation, to even be the one who discovers a body. Just seems weird to me that he was able to find her even though she was under dirt, leaves, twigs, and large boulders..and that the place where she was found was pretty secluded and accessible only by a trail. Obviously the guy who found her knew the area. You're right, the guy probably knew the area, but he had his two sons with him and one of the girl's hands was sticking up out of the ground. The article doesn't say how old his sons were, but they were probably running around off the trail and would have noticed something like a human hand. What I find significant about the hand is that it's doubtful the person who buried her would have left any part of the body visible, so she was either buried before rigor mortis was fully set, or an animal partially uncovered the body.
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Post by lipstickhippie on Oct 19, 2015 17:36:11 GMT -5
You're right, the guy probably knew the area, but he had his two sons with him and one of the girl's hands was sticking up out of the ground. The article doesn't say how old his sons were, but they were probably running around off the trail and would have noticed something like a human hand. What I find significant about the hand is that it's doubtful the person who buried her would have left any part of the body visible, so she was either buried before rigor mortis was fully set, or an animal partially uncovered the body. You have a good point Jason, I didn't consider the fact that perhaps the man's kids were running around and it was one or both of them who actually found the body. I was just wondering if they did any investigation of the guy to rule him out. Since this happened over 50 years ago we will most likely never know.
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Post by nosygrandma on Oct 21, 2015 10:04:51 GMT -5
You're correct Hippie, and I would also like to add that it is rare for a father to actually rape his daughter before death. I too would check the guy who found the body
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Post by charles on Dec 13, 2015 16:44:25 GMT -5
I grew up in Golden Glow Heights and was good friends with the daughter of the man who found Mary Simpson's body. It was determined by police that he had nothing to do with her murder. The was a sort of "urban myth" that arose around the mystery. As kids we used to hike to the top of Combs Hill Road, in the area where her body was found. There was a trail that led down through the woods to a series of cliffs that we knew as "Indian Steps", above the river and across from Rorick's Glen. It was a very beautiful area, but we always also found it a little spooky. The Star Gazette used to periodically run a story about the case. I seem to recall that there was some suspicion that her uncle was involved, but I may be wrong about that. I no longer live in the area but one time when visiting I attempted to hike down to Indian Steps but the land was then very clearly posted as private property. It is sad that her murderer has never been brought to justice.
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Post by jason on Dec 13, 2015 18:02:40 GMT -5
I grew up in Golden Glow Heights and was good friends with the daughter of the man who found Mary Simpson's body. It was determined by police that he had nothing to do with her murder. The was a sort of "urban myth" that arose around the mystery. As kids we used to hike to the top of Combs Hill Road, in the area where her body was found. There was a trail that led down through the woods to a series of cliffs that we knew as "Indian Steps", above the river and across from Rorick's Glen. It was a very beautiful area, but we always also found it a little spooky. The Star Gazette used to periodically run a story about the case. I seem to recall that there was some suspicion that her uncle was involved, but I may be wrong about that. I no longer live in the area but one time when visiting I attempted to hike down to Indian Steps but the land was then very clearly posted as private property. It is sad that her murderer has never been brought to justice. Thank you for sharing this. I never thought that the man and two boys who found the girl had anything to do with her death. After all these years, I doubt that her murder will ever be solved.
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eg
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Post by eg on Dec 29, 2015 22:03:00 GMT -5
I know the family of this little girl and recall hearing the stories of this as a young man. When I was younger I had friends who lived in golden glow and used to run the area a lot. One friends dad was a cop and showed us where the body was found and told us to stay out of the area cuz we used to "explore" the entire hill . What the story isn't saying is there were several other young girls killed within miles of this and around the same time. I wish I knew someone who had real knowledge of what was found because I have been told things not readily known to the public and if I were to hear the things repeated then it would offer some real direction. It definitely was not her father. Kinda like Elmiras "batman" of the mid sixties that ran around Elmiras south side, I seen him when I lived in an old green house that stood next to the coal dump, which was across from where the moose club was built in the late 70s, house stood up against the old viaduct that served the old foundries, on the corner was a mom and pops candy store. Just some info to let anyone from area know that I know what I'm talking about.
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eg
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Post by eg on Dec 29, 2015 22:14:20 GMT -5
To clarify, her hand sticking up was not what started the "search" of the area. Her glasses were found first, then the search of the area started leading to her remains to be found in a shallow grave. She had the sticks and dirt in mouth to help hide body, combs hill is shale and not easy to dig deep. I haven't been back to area in 30 years but when I left you could still see the indent in the ground.
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Post by steve on Dec 30, 2015 16:13:37 GMT -5
What the story isn't saying is there were several other young girls killed within miles of this and around the same time.
Were the other killings in the general Elmira area? I've lived in New York all of my life. I grew up in Rochester, but that was a long time after the murder of this little girl and I wasn't all that interested in unsolved murders until I joined this group. With other girls being killed around that time, it could have been the work of a serial killer. I wonder if the Elmira police ever considered that?
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ml
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Post by ml on Oct 16, 2016 8:27:34 GMT -5
To clarify from her actual family. This was my aunt, my dad's sister. a man and his kids found her, with rocks and twigs on her. So no her glasses werent found first. And yes they do think her father and uncle did it. This is my family and Mary should be able to rest in peace.
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Post by jane on Oct 17, 2016 23:25:04 GMT -5
To clarify from her actual family. This was my aunt, my dad's sister. a man and his kids found her, with rocks and twigs on her. So no her glasses werent found first. And yes they do think her father and uncle did it. This is my family and Mary should be able to rest in peace. What reason would her father and uncle have for killing her?
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Post by kitty on Oct 18, 2016 14:52:33 GMT -5
What reason would her father and uncle have for killing her? I'd also like to know why the family thinks that they killed her.
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Post by homer70 on Dec 27, 2016 19:43:48 GMT -5
Hello, I am new here. I only heard about this case a few years ago eventhough I was born and raised here in Elmira. I also heard that the uncle did it, but do not know why people think that. I am very interested in this case and hope it can be solved. This poor little girl deserves justice. Someone in another post said there were more girls killed around that time but I've never hear about that. Is Mary's family still alive and are they local? Just curious if they are, why not do dna tests now that are more up to date.
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Post by pat on Dec 28, 2016 13:59:54 GMT -5
Hello, I am new here. I only heard about this case a few years ago eventhough I was born and raised here in Elmira. I also heard that the uncle did it, but do not know why people think that. I am very interested in this case and hope it can be solved. This poor little girl deserves justice. Someone in another post said there were more girls killed around that time but I've never hear about that. Is Mary's family still alive and are they local? Just curious if they are, why not do dna tests now that are more up to date. I'm not from that area, but I'd also like to know if there were other murders of young girls in the area around that time.
After I read the article, it occurred to me that her father might have been mad at her for lying and going to visit her mother and that he and the uncle might have accidentally killed her somehow.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Dec 30, 2016 7:05:01 GMT -5
I'm not from that area, but I'd also like to know if there were other murders of young girls in the area around that time.
After I read the article, it occurred to me that her father might have been mad at her for lying and going to visit her mother and that he and the uncle might have accidentally killed her somehow. I've checked for murders and disappearances of young girls in the Elmira area during that time period and haven't found any.
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katie
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Post by katie on Mar 5, 2017 9:33:14 GMT -5
I know the family of Mary's and I know them well enough to know they had nothing to do with her murder..i knew her Dad and step mother really well.i used to go to their house a lot! I don't believe her Dad had anything to do with it..someone asked if her Dad was still alive..no he is not..
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