Three Concord Cold Cases Stymy Law Enforcement

The words “cold case” bring different meaning to different people.

If you’re a television viewer in 2011, the words probably make you think of a 48-minute drama where high tech devices are used to solve the most unimaginable crimes and tie the entire story neatly up in a bow by the end of the program.

But that’s television, not reality.

If you work in law enforcement or are the family of a missing loved one, the words can haunt you for a very long time, if not your entire life.

In the case of Concord law enforcement officials or the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit, it means decades of time between the alleged crime, the gathering of clues and interviewing of potential suspects, and the actually solving of the crime.

The state’s Cold Case Unit was created in 2009, in an effort to put muscle and manpower behind the effort to solve about 120 crimes or missing person cases that are assumed to be criminal in nature. The list is a worrisome collection of men, women, and children, all who went missing between 1969 and 2007.

In Concord’s case, there are three: Judy Lord, Shirley Ann “Tippy” McBride, and David Braley.

The cases

Judy Lord was a 22-year-old mother of one when she was found dead around 12:30 p.m. on May 20, 1975, in her apartment at Concord Royal-Gardens on the Heights.

According to police, Lord had been raped and suffocated, and was lying naked when found. She was last seen alive at 10:30 p.m. the night before, when she attended a volleyball game that was being played in the common area of the complex.

Police spent days combing the apartment for evidence, interviewing friends and neighbors. According to a 2005 report in the Concord Monitor, police questioned an ex-husband in the case and four or five other suspects. One suspect, Earnest Stanberry, a neighbor who had allegedly intimidated Lord, remains a prime suspect in the case, since his hair and fingerprints were found at the scene. He was reportedly stabbed and killed in California in 1987, according to press reports. Despite the death of a prime suspect, the case remains open, according to police. 

Shirley Ann "Tippy" McBride was last seen on July 13, 1984, leaving her step-sister’s apartment on Union Street at around 9:30 p.m. She was 15 at the time and has not been seen since. According to police reports, she left behind money, clothing, and other personal belongings, leading one to suspect that she had not run away from home.

The case has not been ruled a homicide although police and family suspect foul play. A boyfriend at the time, who was also six years older than Tippy, remains a suspect in the case, according to a Concord Monitor story from 2005.

The McBrides lived in Pittsfield at the time having just moved to the town from Manchester. Tippy would often hitchhike on weekends into Concord to stay with her step-sister, Donna Whitcomb, and reportedly hung out with a rough crowd of people.

''From the start, we never expected her to be living,'' John McBride said the Associated Press in 1996. ''There's no way that Tippy would ever leave like that.''

About 12 years after her disappearance, Shirley’s parents, John and Shirley McBride, requested that their daughter be declared legally dead, so they could settle an insurance issue. Despite offering rewards and being interviewed by a number of press outlets, neither the family nor police were able to make no headway in the investigation.

Concord Police considered the case open at the time and still do today. They worked the case daily for months and received irregular tips for about two years after the disappearance.

On Oct. 5, 2003, Tippy’s mother Shirley passed away.

Family members still live in the area but did not return calls for comment about the case.

David Braley, a 21-year-old man from Belmont, is the third cold case connected to Concord.

Braley, according to police reports, was last seen alive on Nov. 10, 1989, at the now defunct Take 5 Nightclub off Manchester Street. He was reported missing two days later, according to a report in the New Hampshire Union Leader. His body was eventually found on March 18, 1990, in the Merrimack River in Manchester. Officials identified his body by comparing dental X-rays and items found on his persons.

Police suspect that Braley was involved in a fight behind the nightclub and later dumped into the river. The case has been ruled a “suspicious death,” and not a homicide, according to the New Hampshire Medical Examiner’s office.

Police are still looking for any information or evidence in these cold cases. Anyone with information should call the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100. Information can also be submitted to the website or texted to TIP234 or CRIMES (274637). Crimeline awards cash to anyone whose information leads to the arrest and indictment of criminals. All tips remain anonymous.

For stories on cold cases in other New Hampshire Patch communities, click on the links below: