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Half a century after murdered woman’s remains were found in Connecticut, she’s been identified
Half a century after a murdered woman’s bones were found in a shallow grave in Connecticut, DNA testing identified the previously unknown female.
Her name was Linda Sue Childers, and investigators said she was from Louisville, Kentucky, before she ended up murdered in a ditch thousands of miles away from her daughter and family. Detectives followed various leads for years before genetic testing helped them find the victim’s sister in Kentucky and, eventually, put together the familial connections that revealed Childers’ identity.
Connecticut State Police
The decadeslong search started on May 30, 1974, when Connecticut State Police said they found two victims fatally shot in a wooded area in Ledyard — about 55 miles east of New Haven — after a witness tipped them off. An informant told detectives the murders had occurred four years earlier on December 31, 1970.
Investigators were able to identify one of the two victims — Gustavous Lee Carmichael, a convicted serial bank robber who had previously escaped from federal custody, according to DNAsolves.com, a database that helps solve cold cases with genetic testing.
Police arrested and convicted two suspects, Richard DeFreitas and Donald Brant, for the murders.
But the other victim, a woman, was badly decomposed and police weren’t able to determine her hair or eye color. Investigators said they had trouble verifying her identity, in part because she had used various alibis, including the name Lorraine Stahl, a resident who had moved from the area months earlier.
Police did find clothes with her remains, including a tan leather “wet look” vest, a gold or tan sweater, a brown tweed skirt and a pair of brown Grannie boots, according to DNA solves.
She also was wearing a pendant and rings with the letters J.H.S.N. monogrammed, the initials I.L.N., and the date 1917 engraved inside, according to DNA solves. The other ring was inexpensive with a “fake” emerald stone.
DNA Solves
The case went cold, with some leads that investigators said never panned out being followed — until July 2022 when remaining DNA samples were sent to the private lab Othram for testing.
In January 2024, the results helped find a connection with the victim’s sister. Investigators then found out Childers had a daughter and she provided a DNA sample, which last month confirmed the victim’s identity, Connecticut State Police said.
The state’s cold case unit has about 1,000 unsolved cases and has closed approximately four dozen previously unsolved homicides since the unit was formed in 1998. The unit has issued decks of playing cards, each set featuring 52 unsolved murders to highlight long-standing cold cases.
NEW YORK – The man accused of killing three people when drove drunk into a crowd on the Lower East Side on July 4th was arraigned on a host of charges Saturday.
Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, N.J. is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, manslaughter, assault and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charges. Hyden was driving with a suspended license, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hyden, 44, drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park just before 9 p.m. local time. He allegedly ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Water and Cherry Streets, drove up onto the sidewalk, slammed through the chain link fence, and into the crowd.
Eleven people were killed or injured, prosecutors said. The three people killed have been identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43. Another person was critically injured, and seven others hospitalized. The youngest victim was 11, according to prosecutors.
Responding police officers say they found Hyden on the ground next to the driver’s-side door, wearing pants but no shirt or shoes. He had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and there was “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
“I hope we get justice”
Photos provided
On Friday, Family members of the victims returned to the scene, some breaking down in tears.
“I hope we get justice for my brother and my mother,” Diamond Pinkney said. “Herman, I love you. I’m going to do you proud.”
“We’re all devastated with this. It breaks my heart, and I’m so sad about it,” neighbor Nereida Garcia said.
Four people were fatally shot and three people were injured in a mass shooting in Kentucky on Saturday, the Florence Police Department said in a statement.
Officers arrived at a private residence at 2:51 a.m. to see seven people shot – and found out the suspect had fled the scene in his car. Police said they located the fleeing suspect and tried to nab him during a traffic stop, but he continued to drive.
A chase ensued, police said, and only ended when the suspect’s car drove into a ditch off the roadway. The suspect was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Three of the victims were taken to UC Health Hospital. They are currently listed in critical but stable condition, officials said.
Everyone was attending a birthday pool party, Florence Church of God, a local church, posted on its social media. One of their congregation’s sisters asked for prayers for her friend whose daughter was killed in the shooting.
“A man came in uninvited on a birthday pool party and killed four people,” the church’s Pastor Campbell wrote.
One of them was a friend’s daughter, the pastor wrote, and “her granddaughter is in the hospital with gunshot wounds.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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