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Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 20, 2015 13:20:22 GMT -5
Theresa Corley: Murdered on the Way Home
A brutal murder has haunted a family in Bellingham, Mass., and baffled state police investigators for almost 40 years. A teenage girl trying to get home was found murdered on the side of the road. Now, Theresa Corley’s family is renewing its search for justice for the unimaginable violence that took her life.
On Tuesday, December 5, 1978, Corley was a vibrant 19-year-old woman working hard while attending Holliston Junior College with the intention of eventually becoming a pediatrician. But that night, Corley had just one thing on her mind – getting home. She never got home and three days later, her body was found in a ditch on the side of Route 495 not far from where the Bellingham, Milford and Medway city limits converge. Almost 40 years later, her family is still trying to find out why. “What drives me is what happened to Theresa was a true injustice,” said Corley’s sister, Gerri Houde. “It’s senseless, it was senseless what happened to her.”
The nightmare of Corley’s final hours began at the Train Stop Lounge in Franklin, where she and her friends were drinking and celebrating someone’s birthday. Corley got into an argument and walked out. Somewhere in downtown Franklin, three young men in a car picked up the girl and took her to the Presidential Arms Apartments, where things spiraled out of control. “I’ve been told it was a sexual assault. I was told she was held down by two men, while one man raped her, or attempted to rape her,” Houde added. According to State Police, Corley ran out of the apartment with such haste, she put on her left shoe and the left shoe of one of the men. Anxious to get home, she started hitchhiking and was picked up by two different drivers. The last driver dropped her off in the center of Bellingham, right in front of the police station. A few people said they saw her around 5:30 a.m., December 6, less than a mile away from home. But she never made it.
The next morning, it was clear to Theresa’s family that something was wrong. “We were in a panic. We were in a state of panic. That she hadn’t come home, because it was so unusual,” said Houde.
Corley’s nude body was found December 8 on the northbound side of Route 495. Her jacket and jeans were lying on the ground next to her. A man identifying himself as John Burlington, a Connecticut businessman, called Bellingham police, alerting them he saw the body when he pulled off the road to relieve himself. But now state police admit Burlington did not exist. Deepening the mystery, shortly after the initial call, but before anyone knew a body had been discovered, a local man walked into the police station asking if they had found Corley on the highway. This man is now dead, but police think he may have known much more and others could too.
Corley’s family is counting on this 37 years later. Houde and her sisters have created a Facebook page called Justice for Theresa Corley. “What I get from that Facebook page is, I thought she was forgotten. I really thought the whole town forgot about her,” Houde said.
FOX25’s Bob Ward recently spoke with the Norfolk County DA’s office and was told the search for justice continues. As for the three men in the apartment, they have never been charged with anything related to Corley’s case. There is also hope that modern forensic science and DNA testing might provide a significant breakthrough. It has happened in other cases and people hope it will happen in Corley’s case too.
If you have any information, you are urged to contact the Norfolk County DA’s Tip Line at (617) 593-8840. Sources: Fox25 Boston, November 19, 2015, and Julia Spits, The Milford Daily News.
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Post by natalie on Nov 30, 2015 8:41:21 GMT -5
I guess I am a little confused...if she was never found alive, how do they know she was taken to an apartment by three men and raped? Who told all of this to her sister? And if they knew who these men were, why weren't they questioned? Why did the police invent this "Burlington" character? Were they trying to cover up and protect someone they knew? Lots of things in this story don't make sense to me.
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apple
Junior Member
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Post by apple on Dec 3, 2015 8:39:37 GMT -5
They could have gotten the rape story from either of the drivers that picked her up afterwards. That info was probably given to the police who then told the sister.
Burlington may not exist because whoever called the police gave a fake name and was gone by the time they went to interview him.
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Post by steve on Dec 3, 2015 13:29:41 GMT -5
The article states that the state police gave the information about her being picked up by the men, so someone must have seen her get in the car with them. She was also picked up by two different drivers after she got away and she could have told one of them about the men and where they lived.
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Post by injustice on Dec 17, 2015 21:32:51 GMT -5
I guess I am a little confused...if she was never found alive, how do they know she was taken to an apartment by three men and raped? Who told all of this to her sister? And if they knew who these men were, why weren't they questioned? Why did the police invent this "Burlington" character? Were they trying to cover up and protect someone they knew? Lots of things in this story don't make sense to me. She was brought to the apartment. She had been hitchhiking and casually knew one of the guys in the car. (supposedly) She insulted him in the bar .We don't know if she was forced into the car. They took her to the apartment and there was a domestic disturbance called in and she managed to run out of the apartment. She grabbed one of her shoes and one of the guys shoes. Cops noticed on the call the two mismatched shoes. The truck driver that picked her up told him she had been assaulted. The men were questioned and NEVER charged with anything (rumor is that they had relatives on the Franklin MA police department, also the cops told the family they were working on murder charges) Not the local or state police did anything to continue to follow the case to pursue rape charges. One of the guys went into another apartment and admitted that he has sex with her. It was overheard by a young couple at the time so they knew she was in that apartment. She made her way home and there has been trouble linking this to 2 separate crimes. Not many believe that one young girl could be assaulted twice in that short period of time. I think the low lifes all partied together and they knew Theresa got out of the first apartment and was in a rage. I believe they knew where she lived and they headed that way and found her. I believe they brought her back to a party house. I believe there were a mix of guys and girls there. One of the guys was a stepson of a Bellingham cop. The kids father also had a great influence in the town. I think those involved were dealing drugs. Could there have been cops on the take getting a little of the drug action? The kid that went into the police station picked up prostitutes to be shared by men. Did he think he could do the same with Theresa? And who were his "clients" Dirt bag older men? Lots to be swept under the rug in 1978 |
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Post by injustice on Dec 17, 2015 21:38:13 GMT -5
They could have gotten the rape story from either of the drivers that picked her up afterwards. That info was probably given to the police who then told the sister. Burlington may not exist because whoever called the police gave a fake name and was gone by the time they went to interview him. Regardless of how all this plays out it is quite a common rumor that this case is a police cover up. People in the little town of Bellingham all know each other's families. Theresa's family only lived there a short time. People have buried this case, they don't want it talked about, they are protecting people and now 37 years of secrets. The local police and the DA have no desire to work on this nor solve it. If they do anything with this case it will come to light all the people they protected and all the screw ups along the way. Justice for Theresa will not be served. |
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Post by pat on Dec 18, 2015 11:21:08 GMT -5
Regardless of how all this plays out it is quite a common rumor that this case is a police cover up. People in the little town of Bellingham all know each other's families. Theresa's family only lived there a short time. People have buried this case, they don't want it talked about, they are protecting people and now 37 years of secrets. The local police and the DA have no desire to work on this nor solve it. If they do anything with this case it will come to light all the people they protected and all the screw ups along the way. Justice for Theresa will not be served. It sounds like another police cover-up. I say another because there are other cases posted on this site where someone related to a police officer or some other powerful local person is involved and they're never solved. You obviously know a lot about what happened. Do you live in that area?
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Post by steve on Dec 18, 2015 22:55:55 GMT -5
She was brought to the apartment. She had been hitchhiking and casually knew one of the guys in the car. (supposedly) She insulted him in the bar .We don't know if she was forced into the car. They took her to the apartment and there was a domestic disturbance called in and she managed to run out of the apartment. She grabbed one of her shoes and one of the guys shoes. Cops noticed on the call the two mismatched shoes. The truck driver that picked her up told him she had been assaulted. The men were questioned and NEVER charged with anything (rumor is that they had relatives on the Franklin MA police department, also the cops told the family they were working on murder charges) Not the local or state police did anything to continue to follow the case to pursue rape charges. One of the guys went into another apartment and admitted that he has sex with her. It was overheard by a young couple at the time so they knew she was in that apartment. She made her way home and there has been trouble linking this to 2 separate crimes. Not many believe that one young girl could be assaulted twice in that short period of time. I think the low lifes all partied together and they knew Theresa got out of the first apartment and was in a rage. I believe they knew where she lived and they headed that way and found her. I believe they brought her back to a party house. I believe there were a mix of guys and girls there. One of the guys was a stepson of a Bellingham cop. The kids father also had a great influence in the town. I think those involved were dealing drugs. Could there have been cops on the take getting a little of the drug action? The kid that went into the police station picked up prostitutes to be shared by men. Did he think he could do the same with Theresa? And who were his "clients" Dirt bag older men? Lots to be swept under the rug in 1978 There's still a lot being swept under the rug because of dirty cops and other influential people. After almost 40 years, unless someone confesses on their deathbed, I doubt that her murder will ever be solved.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Dec 2, 2017 19:10:55 GMT -5
DNA Testing May Solve the 1978 Murder of Theresa Corley
Thanks to advances in DNA technology, Theresa Corley’s family may finally discover who brutally murdered her almost 39 years ago. On Friday, seven months after state police exhumed the girl’s body in search of DNA, a Norfolk County assistant district attorney told Corley’s family that technicians retrieved a DNA sample from her clothing, Boston 25 News reported. “They came back with a complete DNA profile from a sample gotten off of her jeans,” Gerri Houde, Corley’s sister, told the station. “I don’t know if I should be really jubilant about this, but just the fact that after 39 years they got a complete DNA profile off of an old sample, it gives hope not only to Theresa’s case, but to other cases,” she added. Investigators waited for DNA technology to improve before exhuming her body, the station reported.
The sample will now be sent to a national DNA crime database for further testing. If there’s a match, a suspect could be determined and the case could finally be solved.
Corley was found naked and strangled along the side of Interstate 495 in Bellingham, Mass., in December of 1978. The then 19-year-old had gone out with friends a couple nights before in Franklin, Mass. Police determined a group of men gave her a ride to an apartment in Franklin where she was sexually assaulted, according to Boston 25 News. Early the following morning, Corley was reportedly seen hitchhiking about a mile from her home in Bellingham. She was found dead two days later.
Ronald D. Moore. Some believe Moore, a registered sex offender now living at 69 Willard Avenue in Ludlow, Mass., murdered Theresa Corley. In 2013, DNA linked him to a 1992 rape in Springfield and he was sentenced to four years in prison. Moore, now 59, was around 20-years-old at the time of Corley’s murder.
Sources: Fox News, December 2, 2017; Buffy Spencer, MassLive, November 4, 2015; and The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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Post by catherine on Dec 5, 2017 15:47:42 GMT -5
I did some Google searches about this murder and I didn't find anything about the Moore man being a suspect. What makes you think that he might have killed the woman?
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Post by Graveyardbride on Dec 6, 2017 10:47:49 GMT -5
I did some Google searches about this murder and I didn't find anything about the Moore man being a suspect. What makes you think that he might have killed the woman?
He's a known rapist and some local people believe he was in the area at the time.
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Post by injustice on Feb 13, 2018 17:53:18 GMT -5
The Ronald Moore from Bellingham who is believed to have known something about this murder and not proven to be involved supposedly died in Florida. He is buried in a Bellingham cemetery. The adm. should verify she has the correct Ronald Moore before she posts like she actually knows something
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Post by catherine on Feb 13, 2018 19:00:12 GMT -5
The Ronald Moore from Bellingham who is believed to have known something about this murder and not proven to be involved supposedly died in Florida. He is buried in a Bellingham cemetery. The adm. should verify she has the correct Ronald Moore before she posts like she actually knows something
I checked and the Ronald Moore from Bellingham who died in Florida was Ronald A. Moore, not Ronald D. Moore. Ronald A. Moore died in 2007, so he couldn't have had his DNA tested in 2013 unless his body was exhumed. I couldn't find anything about him being a sex offender either.
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Post by JoannaL on May 8, 2019 14:10:38 GMT -5
Remembering Theresa Corley FRANKLIN, Mass. – The last time I remember seeing Theresa Corley, I was working my minimum wage, part-time job at Star Market in Franklin, Massachusetts. I was straightening a store shelf in one of the aisles. Theresa smiled and said hi to me as she passed by, probably on her way to the back room to punch-out of her shift at the end of her work day. In my mind, it was late summer 1978, but I could be wrong about that. It’s a fleeting memory of a pretty girl, full of life, who shared a little greeting as she bounced down a supermarket aisle headed to whatever adventure awaited. Theresa Corley would soon trade Star Market for another job to help pay for college. I never saw her alive again.
A few months later, in December of 1978, near the end of a night shift, I remember another Star Market co-worker asking me if I heard the news. She almost couldn’t bring herself to say it. “Remember that girl, Theresa Corley?” she whispered. “She was murdered.”
Theresa Corley was murdered 40 years ago. She was strangled and her naked body was found on December 8, 1978, on the side of Route 495 in Bellingham, her hometown.
There has never been an arrest. But today there’s still a lot happening to help identify Theresa’s killer.
Theresa Corley was 19-years-old. She was buried in a Milford cemetery in her prom dress. Recently, her body was exhumed in the hopes of obtaining a DNA sample. I am told the exhumation did not produce a sample, but a second look at the jeans found near her body did produce something: a YSTR profile of an unidentified male. Investigators believe there are other items, collected as evidence in 1978, that can now be tested, thanks to incredible advances in DNA technology. And, I am told, witnesses are being approached for new DNA samples.
Theresa Corley’s case has always been important to me. When we launched New England’s Unsolved in 1999, I included Theresa’s case because I wanted to know what happened to her. It was the first serious news story on Theresa’s case in years. And what I discovered was horrifying.
On the night of December 5, 1978, Theresa and her friends were partying, celebrating the birthday of Theresa’s boyfriend. They all wound up at the Train Stop Bar on Depot Street in Franklin. At the end of a night of drinking, Theresa got into an argument and stormed out of the Train Stop wearing only a light jacket and jeans. She asked a friend for a ride, but the friend didn’t want to leave. So, Theresa started walking from the Train Stop to her home in Bellingham: five-and-a-half miles away. It would take almost two hours to walk that distance. But Theresa didn’t make it home.
Somewhere in downtown Franklin, three men, who were at the Train Stop, followed Theresa. They got her into their car and drove her to their apartment in Franklin, where Theresa was raped by at least one, possibly all, of the men. They were never prosecuted.
Early in the morning, Theresa got out of the apartment wearing one of her shoes and the shoe of one of the men. She was seen by drivers on Route 140 and some said she was hitchhiking. She was desperately trying to get it home.
A Garelick Farms truck driver making his morning deliveries, spotted Theresa outside the company’s front gate. He picked her up. The driver later told police he could smell alcohol on her breath. He also said she was “mad as fire” and told police the girl told him she had been sexually-assaulted. The man dropped her off outside the Bellingham Police department. From what we know now, she never went inside.
Theresa Corley was last seen outside a nearby Dairy Queen, less than a mile from her North Main Street Home. She was still trying to make it home, but never did. On December 8, her body was found.
Theresa’s death shocked us all. I was 17-years-old. I attended the open-casket wake, where the sight of a mark on Theresa’s neck unnerved me. I also attended the funeral. I remember her friends, standing in the church hugging each other, sobbing. Some of them were with her the night she disappeared.
In May 2017, I stood with three of Theresa’s sisters in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Milford, watching Theresa’s casket rise from her grave. It was surreal.
And now, here we are, December 2018, and the case of Theresa Corley is still unsolved, but moving forward.
New investigators are bringing a fresh approach. A new billboard in Franklin features Theresa’s Bellingham High School senior class picture. In the photo, Theresa is as alive as I remember her that day in 1978 when I last saw her. Only this time, the picture is used, not to commemorate her high school years, but to ask for help, to ask for justice, forty years later.
Forty years is a long time to keep a secret. Now is the time for someone to finally reveal the brutal and deadly truth. Theresa’s family is offering a $25,000 reward. Anyone with information should call the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Tip Line: (781) 830-4990.Source: Bob Ward, WFXT, December 6, 2018.
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Post by kitty on Jan 12, 2024 11:47:19 GMT -5
Did the DNA testing identify this girl's killer?
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