Justice For Trish Haynes Rally Held In Concord Saturday

CONCORD, NH — The friends and family of Trish Haynes, who has been missing for more than three years and presumed to be a homicide case, after parts of her body were found inside a New Hampshire pond, are holding a rally Saturday to raise awareness about the case.

Haynes, originally from Stuart, Florida, moved to New Hampshire in 2014 and lived in the northern and northwestern parts of the state, off and on, between that time and when she was reported missing in late August 2018.

She lived in North Woodstock and was reportedly involved in an abusive relationship. Later, she lived in Grafton which is where she resided when she went missing sometime in the spring of 2018.

In early September 2018, crates were removed from Grant’s Pond in Grafton, which included a washer-dryer unit with human remains inside. A camper on French Hill Road, where Haynes was staying, was also searched.

About a year after officials requested assistance finding her, investigators confirmed Haynes’ remains were inside the washer-dryer unit and the case was now a homicide.

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Chloe French, a friend and one of the organizers of the rally, hopes the event will bring added focus to the case which is going on for three years since Haynes’ remains were identified.

“We hope to see a large group of people attend this Saturday at noon to help bring awareness to her murder,” she said, “as well as awareness to the lack of movement in the investigation thus far.”

Jeffery Strelzin, an associate attorney general with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, said the case is “active and ongoing,” while not getting into specifics. He said conclusions cannot be drawn from the length of time it takes to solve a murder case.

“Generally speaking,” he said, “when cases get older, there are periods of dormancy. They can (sometimes) go back into an active phase. There can be periods of months when there is no activity (even though the department) is continually working the case. This case has been more active than other cases.”

Strelzin said there is always “a variety of information” that is collected by investigators in murder cases.

“It doesn’t all come from one source,” he said. “In pretty much every case, we rely on a variety of sources.”

Strelzin said the department collects a lot of information during investigations and not just from search warrants. In any case, not unlike the Haynes case, the department has collected forensic information, digital evidence, witness statements, and other information. Although, in the Haynes case, investigators have not reached a determination on what exactly happened and who was involved.

Some connected to Haynes believed the arrest and conviction of Douglas Carl Smith Jr., a career criminal with a history of violence including rape and firing guns at people, might lead to a resolution in the case. Haynes was living with Smith and his wife, Ashley Ruff Smith, at the time she went missing.

There is also the issue of several car bombings in western New Hampshire connected to people around Smith and Haynes.

Strelzin, however, said, “we wouldn’t necessarily draw connections” between Smith, the car fires, and the Haynes case.

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