Missing Girls' Cold Cases Turn 50, 45, Respectively, This Week

VERNON/TOLLAND, CT — This week marks 50 and 45 years since two girls were last seen in Tolland and Vernon, respectively. They are two of Tolland County's most infamous cold cases — cases the Tolland County state's attorney, Matthew Gedanski, said are difficult to talk about, but must be talked about.

They are also two days apart on the July calendar.

"They're still active cases. We're still taking tips," Gedansky said on Monday at the courthouse in Vernon. "We keep trying to find ties to these cases."

It was on July 24, 1968, that 13-year-old Debra Spickler went missing. According to case records, she was visiting an aunt in Vernon. She was near Henry Park and South Street, walking from Fox Hill Drive toward the park's swimming pool, according to case records. She was going to meet a friend but never did.

Janice Pockett was last seen on July 26, 1973. She was 7 at the time and ventured away from her family's home in Tolland on her bicycle, looking for a butterfly. According to case records, about 30 minutes later, Janice's mom found her bike less then a mile from the house. It was on Rhodes Road, near a wooded area. A bench now sits in the area to remember her disappearance.

Posters giving the public details on the cold cases sit in the Vernon Police Department lobby.

"We have to consider the case an active investigation," Vernon police chief James Kenny said Monday of the Spickler case. "We will always ask members of the public who might have any tips, not matter how small they seem to contact our detectives. You never know where they might lead."

In terms of the investigations, Gedansky said the two were linked together, along with the case of Lisa White, who went missing on Nov. 1, 1974, on Prospect Street in the Rockville section of Vernon. The level of intensity went down when the lead investigator, who worked part-time, moved on.

Still, he said, the three are cases he thinks about often.

He was asked if the milestones were healthy to note. Is counting the years fair to the families?

"I think so," he said, "It shows the families we are care about closure. And with new technology and new evidence coming forward every day on cases, there is still some hope. That's why we have to keep these cases open."

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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