http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/08/news/penobscot/balloon-release-to-mark-32nd-anniversary-of-joyce-mclain-homicide/?ref=mostReadBoxNews


32 years later....they just want this case to go away I guess huh?

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/08/news/penobscot/balloon-release-to-mark-32nd-anniversary-of-joyce-mclain-homicide/?ref=mostReadBoxNews


32 years later....they just want this case to go away I guess huh?

The FBI is [mostly] worthless but not for the reasons that you specified. The FBI can't really do anything more for Joyce's case than they already have. People watch CSI and assume that law enforcement has so much power but they don't. UM proved that for me, combined with the life experience of getting my car and house broken into with no help from LE, largely because there was nothing they could do.

It wouldn't make a difference in this case if the FBI looks into it more. Unless someone confesses, nothing will become of this case. It's very similar to the 1984 murder of Scott Dove in my city [Thunder Bay, Ontario]. It's also similar to the Jeremy Bright case. Tara Calico's case comes to mind as well. In other words, investigation cannot and will not solve this case without complicity of those responsible and since that does not seem to be happening, all we can do is wait and hope that someone with a guilty conscious comes forward.

Soleil Moon Frye [Punky Brewster] starred in a movie in 1993 called "The Liars' Club" which was based on a group of friends who had to hide an assault and later, a murder.

i want Joyce's murder solved dammit

Sheesh...I had such high hopes when the autopsy was done 3 years ago and it was stated that the body was still 85% preserved. Police said they were able to obtain new evidence because of that but we haven't heard anything since.

I want this case solved not just for Joyce's family but for that whole town who has eaten, slept and breathed this murder for 32 years. They have never stopped fighting to keep this story in the media, to get the FBI involved, to keep Joyce's name out there. These are truly amazing people.

Everything is a constant battle, though. Joyce's mother had to fight tooth and nails for 2 decades just to get an autopsy done. If the people of this town could just be rewarded with any little scrap of information, they would certainly deserve it.

Sheesh...I had such high hopes when the autopsy was done 3 years ago and it was stated that the body was still 85% preserved. Police said they were able to obtain new evidence because of that but we haven't heard anything since.

I want this case solved not just for Joyce's family but for that whole town who has eaten, slept and breathed this murder for 32 years. They have never stopped fighting to keep this story in the media, to get the FBI involved, to keep Joyce's name out there. These are truly amazing people.

Everything is a constant battle, though. Joyce's mother had to fight tooth and nails for 2 decades just to get an autopsy done. If the people of this town could just be rewarded with any little scrap of information, they would certainly deserve it.


yeah

there's a very good chance the killer is still alive

Sheesh...I had such high hopes when the autopsy was done 3 years ago and it was stated that the body was still 85% preserved. Police said they were able to obtain new evidence because of that but we haven't heard anything since.

I want this case solved not just for Joyce's family but for that whole town who has eaten, slept and breathed this murder for 32 years. They have never stopped fighting to keep this story in the media, to get the FBI involved, to keep Joyce's name out there. These are truly amazing people.

Everything is a constant battle, though. Joyce's mother had to fight tooth and nails for 2 decades just to get an autopsy done. If the people of this town could just be rewarded with any little scrap of information, they would certainly deserve it.

Occam's Razor: It wasn't intended to be a murder. If it was in any way intended, more effort would have been to hide the body or the crime scene. I would say it is more likely she was brought to the back to be sexually assaulted or perhaps not even that. From there, things escalated and then she was murdered, most likely accidentally. Maine is such a nice and safe place. It makes me very sad that people in the USA who live in the places that are the safest consistently seek to change that politically. But I won't go there. Oh well. Soon there will be no places left in the USA like East Millinocket. :(

yeah

there's a very good chance the killer is still alive

And possibly still in the area. About the time of the exhumation of her body, the cross memorial where her body was found (maintained by her mother) and her tombstone were vandalized. Happily, in the news story her mother had already made a bigger cross to replace the destroyed one.

Wasnt the Lil Miss murder solved by evidence (a note?) left at the gravesite? It would be interesting to know if they were able to obtain evidence from the tombstone or cross.

This case is in my top ten of UM cases I would like to see solved, right up there with Angela Hammond.

yeah

i'm tired of seeing this story pop up every year with the same old police excuses

i'm tired of seeing this story pop up every year with the same old police excuses

I feel the same way.

First of all, I am VERY unfamiliar with this case, so I'll ask a couple of stupid questions. I did just read 3 articles about it and the "unsolved wiki".

Besides the "blunt force trauma" was there any other signs of trauma? Of course the findings from the newest autopsy don't seem to have ever been released to the public, so no one can speak to those results.

Is it possible, since there was a rainstorm while she was missing, that a branch or something else fell on her and killed her and somehow she was able to move far enough away from whatever fell, before dying and the police didn't notice (or the object fell into some bushes or thick woods after hitting her)? Was it windy during that storm? Was there lightning? Would the original corner know what a lightning strike death looked like?

The articles made vague references to "witnesses" and to a dumb officer who claimed to know who may have killed her. Unfortunately in small towns, gossip, innuendo, and theories abound, many of which are complete hokum.

Just curious, I apologize if these questions are not legit.

it wasn't raining at all that night and there was a softball tournament in town

and a lot of temp workers at the local mill

Is it possible, since there was a rainstorm while she was missing, that a branch or something else fell on her and killed her and somehow she was able to move far enough away from whatever fell, before dying and the police didn't notice (or the object fell into some bushes or thick woods after hitting her)? Was it windy during that storm? Was there lightning? Would the original corner know what a lightning strike death looked like?

Joyce went missing on the evening of August 8th. Her body wasn't found until the 10th. I believe it was that day in between that there was some rain that could have washed away some evidence. But the major damage to her was to the neck, and according to articles, her head was smashed with a rock.

I'm sure if she had been killed by a tree branch, there would be clear evidence of that. But I think the Unsolved Mysteries reenactment had it right. She liked to do laps around the soccer field. There would be no reason for her to be back in those woods unless she was forced to go back in there. Whoever did this to her, even if he was drunk, was smart enough to take her to that location so nobody would notice anything.

Joyce McLain? I can't open the link again because it locked up my computer the first time.

Joyce McLain? I can't open the link again because it locked up my computer the first time.
yessir


the FBI says they can't help

I'm very frustrated that the FBI won't even attempt to look at it, while at the same time understanding that they feel the state police have done everything they can. However, fresh eyes are always potential case-crackers. Why not try? Or attempt to try? Cold Cases are still cases that deserve to be looked at and I hate that they aren't even going to make an attempt.

East Millonocket has a good community- they fought to get Joyce's case profiled on UM and hold annual memorial services for her. I can't believe it was a whopping 24 years ago the case was on Unsolved. That's nearly a quarter century still without answers and the citizens are still fighting to get the case solved. What can they lose by trying?

it wasn't raining at all that night and there was a softball tournament in town

and a lot of temp workers at the local mill


Do you think it was one or two of the temp worker guys that killed her?

I think it's just as likely that it could have been someone who lived nearby the soccer field/school and had seen Joyce jog that route at the exact same time every day. From reading articles and such, they made it seem like she did the exact same jogging routine at about the same time on a daily basis, so the killer (or killers) could have seen that, learned when she would be there, and could have been hiding somewhere along her route the night she was killed.

Do you think it was one or two of the temp worker guys that killed her?

I think it's just as likely that it could have been someone who lived nearby the soccer field/school and had seen Joyce jog that route at the exact same time every day. From reading articles and such, they made it seem like she did the exact same jogging routine at about the same time on a daily basis, so the killer (or killers) could have seen that, learned when she would be there, and could have been hiding somewhere along her route the night she was killed.

The strong feeling behind it being a temp mill worker or someone related to the softball tournament was largely due to East Millinocket being such a close-knit town with an apparently very communal attitude. In every extensive article I've ever read about Joyce McLain, this has always figured in. The immense number of petitions to get Joyce's story to various media outlets, the numerous anecdotes about how neighborly East Millinocket was and the tremendous impact her murder had on the community, the grassroots groups that cropped up in the area as a direct result of what happened, so on.

I'm certainly not saying it couldn't have been a local, but I have definitely noticed there is a lot of tight-knit community descriptions about East Millinocket in the press than is generally typical. It seems the residents are incredulous about the possibility it could be one of their own--not because they think they're collectively above violent crime, but because one of them would simply KNOW who did it.

The strong feeling behind it being a temp mill worker or someone related to the softball tournament was largely due to East Millinocket being such a close-knit town with an apparently very communal attitude. In every extensive article I've ever read about Joyce McLain, this has always figured in. The immense number of petitions to get Joyce's story to various media outlets, the numerous anecdotes about how neighborly East Millinocket was and the tremendous impact her murder had on the community, the grassroots groups that cropped up in the area as a direct result of what happened, so on.

I'm certainly not saying it couldn't have been a local, but I have definitely noticed there is a lot of tight-knit community descriptions about East Millinocket in the press than is generally typical. It seems the residents are incredulous about the possibility it could be one of their own--not because they think they're collectively above violent crime, but because one of them would simply KNOW who did it.


I see.