January 7, 2025 • 19 mins
Over 50 years ago, Jeannette DePalma's body was found surrounded by items that led people to believe her death was part of a ritual. But, is any of that actually true?
If you have any information please contact Lt. Jose Vendas at 908-358-3048. You can also reach out to the Justice for Jeannette Facebook page directly.
Do you have any insights, or even a case you’d like to suggest? Feel free to send it to me, you’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.
Thank you NJ.com, the sun.com, discover.hubpages.com, the New York Daily News, all thats interesting.com, change.org, my central jersey.com, newspapers.com, weirdnj.com, la times, AP news, the Justice for Jeannette Facebook page, the book Death on the Devil’s Teeth, and Wikipedia for information contributing to today’s story.
This episode was written by Christy Arnhart and John Lordan and is produced by LordanArts.
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation or potential charges associated to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Please do not contact people you are suspicious of or attempt to harass, threaten or intimidate them in any way. Do not release information that can be used to do the same, or join in attacks being conducted by others. Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If you have any information please contact Lt. Jose Vendas at 908-358-3048. You can also reach out to the Justice for Jeannette Facebook page directly.
Do you have any insights, or even a case you’d like to suggest? Feel free to send it to me, you’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.
Thank you NJ.com, the sun.com, discover.hubpages.com, the New York Daily News, all thats interesting.com, change.org, my central jersey.com, newspapers.com, weirdnj.com, la times, AP news, the Justice for Jeannette Facebook page, the book Death on the Devil’s Teeth, and Wikipedia for information contributing to today’s story.
This episode was written by Christy Arnhart and John Lordan and is produced by LordanArts.
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation or potential charges associated to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Please do not contact people you are suspicious of or attempt to harass, threaten or intimidate them in any way. Do not release information that can be used to do the same, or join in attacks being conducted by others. Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
While looking into seriously mysterious cases, I've often seen where
some people will run off with unsupported conclusions. While I
always try to focus on honoring the truth of each story,
regardless of how much attention that perspective might gain, others
will sometimes take the facts and twist them into almost
completely fictionalized outcomes. Outcomes that experts statistics, and in some
(00:45):
instances where the case is eventually solved, the truth just
do not support. If they're doing this for self affirmation
or simply to grab the attention of others isn't always clear,
but they don't seem to understand that those words can
deeply affect the emotions of the family and sometimes even
affect the perspective of investigators. Today's case asks if the
(01:10):
death of a young girl was spun with satanic panic
to create a boogeyman, possibly for someone's gain, and if so,
how can you cut through those questionable conclusions to try
to find the truth or are the reasons for those
conclusions actually valid? And is that boogeyman real? I'm John
(01:30):
Lorden and today we're going to dive into all of
it with the story of the still unsolved death of
Jeanette to Palma. Jeanette Christine de Palma was born on
August third, nineteen fifty six, to Salvatory and Florence de Palma,
as part of a devout Catholic family living in New Jersey.
Having a new baby was nothing new to Florence. She
(01:51):
had already delivered three sons, and Jeannette would be her
fourth of five daughters. In nineteen sixty six, the family
moved to Springfield, New Jersey. The house on Clearview Drive
was the perfect size and in an upper middle class neighborhood.
Neighbors said that the family didn't socialize much and kept
to themselves for the most part. Soon Jeanette was entering
(02:13):
her teenage years. Her friends said that she was funny, sweet,
and a good reliable friend. She loved rock music and
hanging out sometimes at parties. Of course, religion would be
a big part of her life. Her parents said that
she was someone who always tried to lead others to Jesus.
She was kind and helpful to others and participated in
(02:34):
community programs that helped citizens who had struggled with addiction.
By nineteen seventy two, Jeanette was in her junior year
at Jonathan Dayton Regional High School. She was planning on
continuing her education after high school at Trinity Bible College
in North Dakota. It was August seventh, just four days
after Jeanette's sixteenth birthday. She had plans to spend time
(02:55):
with her cousin, Gail Donahue. The girls had recently met
some boys and they were supposed to meet up with them. However,
Jeanette's mother put her in charge of the household chores
that day. Jeanette called Gail to break the news that
she wasn't going to be able to make it, but
Gail convinced her to get everything done and then come
out later. By one pm, her chores were done. Jeanette
(03:16):
told her mother that she was going to use public
transportation to go meet up with Gail and that she'd
be home that evening. The day rolled by, but when
evening arrived, there was no sign of Jeannette. Her parents
became worried, and they would wind up calling the police
that night to tell them about their missing daughter. What
they didn't know at the time was that Jeannette did
(03:37):
not go to catch a train or a bus. It
would be later confirmed that she told Gail she was
planning on hitchhiking. This was the nineteen seventies. Hitchhiking was
far more commonplace at the time. Thankfully, we're now much
more aware of the dangers of this practice. Another twist
we hear too often in these cases is that, despite
the fact that her parents called the police the night before,
(03:59):
Jeannette's missing a person report wasn't actually taken until the
following day. Soon all hands were on deck looking for Jeannette.
Flyers were hung and searches were conducted, but there was
just no trace of her found. Of course, many considered
that she might have run away, even members of her
family and her ex boyfriend, who was the son of
(04:19):
the pastor at the church that her family attended. Maybe
she just ran off to New York and hopefully she'd
be back in a day or two. But the days
passed and there was still no sign of Jeannette. As
more time passed, some began considering the worst case scenario.
It had only been nine months since John List went
on his spree killing all the members of his family
(04:41):
in another New Jersey town. Could Jeannette have been the
victim of a homicide. The answer would be revealed in
a terrible way. Six weeks later, on September nineteenth, when
someone living at the apartments on Wilson Road called the police.
She reported that she saw her dog playing outside with
what she initially assumed was a bone, but upon inspection,
(05:03):
she realized that her dog returned from the nearby woods
with a decomposing human arm. Investigators and bloodhounds were immediately dispatched.
Behind that apartment complex was a section of woods that
connected to the Houdai Quarry. That quarry is where police
made the discovery. At the top of a rock formation
(05:24):
called the Devil's Teeth, Officer Donald Schwart found a body.
It would be later confirmed via dental records that this
was indeed Jeanette to Palma. Other items were found with
the body. Quote she had tan pants and a navy
blue shirt, Officer Schwartz recalled. Also interesting to note Jeanette
(05:45):
was not an outdoorsy girl, and the fact that she
was found wearing flip flops said that she hadn't planned
to go hiking, especially up this steep, rocky hill that
most people used hiking boots to reach. Also found near
her body were the contents of her purse, Vixen haaler,
a pack of tissues, lipstick, a compact, a comb, a
(06:05):
key on a ring, and a small eyeshadow palette. There
was also a clear vial with an unknown substance found.
Also of interest was what was not found, including her
purse and a gold necklace with a gold cross pendant
that Jeannette always wore. As more personnel began to arrive
on scene, there were murmurs about the other strange discoveries
(06:27):
that had been made in the woods and a question
of could this all be connected. Jeannette to Palma's body
had been found in the Houdai quarry and now investigators
(06:49):
were looking for the truth, but there would be serious
challenges in that task. The quarry sat east of Watchung Reservation,
the largest nature reserve in Union County. News. The Watchung
area is located on a ridge within northern central New Jersey,
and it covers an area of one thousand, nine hundred
and forty five acres. Stories of paganism and witchcraft surround
(07:13):
what is known as the Enchanted Forest in the reservation.
The Enchanted Forest is a pine plantation of sixteen thousand
trees placed in endless ruler straight rows by the New
Deal era civilian conservation Corps during the nineteen thirties. Little
sound penetrates the area, also giving cover and privacy to
people that would be inside the pine plantation. It's also
(07:36):
an area where someone could easily become lost in the
endless rows of trees. The Daily Journal reported that officers
had been called to the forest to investigate a number
of sacrifices involving dead animals. It was also reported that
burning candles, a bowl of blood, and feathers, and pigeons
with their necks snapped had been found in the forest
(07:56):
as well. A local transient who sometimes worked as a
golf caddie was looked into as a possible person of interest.
It took weeks for him to be located, but after
he was interviewed, police took him off the list. Another
man who drove a red Ford falcon was looked into,
as well as an old boyfriend of Jeanette's and a
watchman who lived in the quarry. All of them would
(08:19):
also be removed from the list. Reports about the discovery
of Jeanette's body would wind up in the local press
with titles that were connecting the possibility of witchcraft or
paganism being the culprit. These reports would detail other findings
by investigators, findings that someone with a critical eye would
immediately find questionable and easily based on interpretation. There was
(08:41):
word that her body was found in a coffin shape
made out of arranged wood branches. There were reports that
makeshift wooden crosses were placed around her head. Then Reverend
James Tate, the pastor of the Depalmas family's church, gave
an interview to the Daily News that was published on
October fourth, the headline priest's theory Devil's Disciples killed girl.
(09:05):
In it, he stated that he believed that Satanists had
killed Jeanette quote she was so religious that she would
often talk to friends and acquaintances about God. He said
his theory was that she had tried to lecture devil
worshipers about Christ and their fanaticism arose and they killed her.
While I don't doubt that this was truly an act
(09:28):
of evil that took this young woman's life, the theory
is otherwise based on conjecture, and one could argue had
an obvious benefit to the person pushing it, filling in
more empty seats in the pews. On Sunday morning, and
selling some more copies of the daily news with the
attention grabbing headline. The truth was that determining her cause
of death was already challenging, let alone trying to determine
(09:51):
what conversation might have been her last decomposition was so
bad that the coroner was unable to conduct a conclusive autopsy.
He did report that her body was found lying face
down on a quote rock formation surrounding the body, already
a very clear difference from the coffin made of wood
(10:11):
being reported. It also makes me wonder if this was
indeed an intentionally symbolized coffin, or an effort by someone
to keep the remains in place to avoid the type
of discovery that eventually happened when an animal successfully spread
her remains. A formation of rocks in a quarry doesn't
necessarily show much premeditation or planning, and was likely more
(10:34):
of an improvised method. No bullet holes were found in
her body, but fractures related to blunt force trauma pointed
to how she might have died. Her clothes were preserved
and tested for evidence, but it was concluded in a
nineteen seventy three report that there were no foreign hairs found.
The stains on the clothes could not be tested for
(10:54):
blood or signs of sexual assault, as they were too
degraded for the technology at the time. Because of this
severe lack of information, her death was only ruled suspicious.
A search of Jeanette's room would just add fuel to
the fire and more questions to the mystery. She loved
to read and had many books, but among them was
(11:15):
a copy of the Satanic Bible by Anton LeVay. Her
diary was filled with entries talking about typical things that
teen girls do, going to parties, drinking alcohol, and kissing boys.
This was definitely changing the perspective that maybe Jeannette was
not exactly the devout daughter her parents knew, and for me,
raises more questions about her priest's theory. On her last conversation,
(11:39):
many wondered if she had actually fallen in with the
wrong crowd and maybe even began using drugs. Could that
explain the vile with the unknown substance. It would also
be discovered that she was known to smoke marijuana socially,
but outside of that, she wasn't known to use other
harder drugs. With no suspects, not much in the way
(12:00):
of clues, the case just went cold. That was until
the nineteen nineties hit and a magazine called Weird New
Jersey began recounting the case. The magazine eventually turned into
a website that still follows the case to this day.
A new wave of people were getting to know the
details of Jeanette's death and wanting to find answers. The
(12:21):
most noteworthy efforts would come from Ed Salzano and Holly Zooel.
Ed grew up in the area and moved back there
after working as a PI in New York for a
number of years. After speaking with Jeannette's nephew, John Bancy
and receiving parts of the FBI's investigative file from him,
Ed and Holly created the Justice for Jeanette Facebook page.
(12:43):
They wanted to not just try to find Jeanette's killer,
but to also honor her nephew's request to help keep
her memory alive. They have faced the same challenge that
I mentioned at the start of this episode. The perception
was so baked into the available information it actually took
focus away and in some instances changed the known facts. Instead,
(13:06):
innuendo and slanted observations took center stage. Of course, satanic
panic would grow in the nineteen eighties and hit a
bit of a fever point in the nineteen nineties. During
that time, it was believed that Satanists were everywhere and
they were after your children for sacrifices. When Ed and
Hawley first started working the case, they heard the rumors
(13:27):
that a flood in the late nineties had destroyed the
file and all associated evidence, yet another aspect of this
case that just wasn't true. They decided to try to
request the file again and were surprised to find that
somehow the case file had turned back up. Almost immediately,
Ed and Holly began to see very big inconsistencies. According
(13:48):
to those early reports, there were satanic symbols around Jeannette's body,
the sticks that formed a coffin around her and the
wooden crosses around her head. In the actual crime scene photos,
which redacted versions can be found online and I reviewed
for myself, there are no crosses, there's no coffin shape
made from sticks at most, there are a few fallen
(14:10):
trees near her body, and the rock arrangement is haphazard
at best. Where were all these satanic symbols that the
papers were lynch pinning their headlines to Surprisingly, despite those photos,
Ed still believes that a cult of some kind may
have been involved, and there's been some form of cover
up all these years. In a case with so much speculation,
(14:33):
where are the basic theories that we've seen time and
time again in real solved cases, spurned lovers, crimes of opportunity,
drug deal's gone bad. This story has been beaten like
a drum for so long that it seems unable to
shake loose these long lasting assumptions. Ed said it himself
in an article that The Daily Beast written in twenty
(14:54):
twenty two, quote the lore is there. What isn't there
is the evidence? Ed and Holly then focused on a
question that I ask myself all the time. Can modern
technology move this case forward? Her clothes couldn't be tested
when she died, but can they now be tested with
modern methods including DNA technology. In an effort to compel
(15:18):
the prosecutor's office to re examine the case and test
Janette's clothing, Ed file the lawsuit quote, what it really
comes down to is if they still have it, it
would seem smart to test it. If we need to
take up a collection to get it done. I'm sure
we can, he would say, sadly, in twenty nineteen that
(15:39):
case was dismissed. He was told by the judge resident
ed Salzano doesn't have standing to sue the Union County
Prosecutor's office, and the court can't tell authorities how to
investigate a crime. In an era when we're regularly seeing thirty, forty,
and even fifty year old cases solved, why wouldn't they
test THEO It makes the theories about a police cover
(16:03):
up seem much more possible, and of course adds to
the static that's obscuring nearly every aspect of this case.
Over forty years later, we still don't know if this
was a homicide, an accident, or perhaps even a suicide.
I can't shake one question from my mind. What was
in that vial? Apparently her mother told the press that
(16:26):
her daughter had a cold that day, which would explain
the vixenhaler and the tissues. But was that bottle really
a cold medication like chorusidin Could the vixenhaler and tissues
actually point to a different type of harder drug use.
There just seems to be many more believable possibilities in
this case, but they've been obliterated by a literal witch hunt.
(16:50):
In twenty twenty one, serial killer Richard Cottingham, known as
the New York Torso Killer or Times Square Killer, started
to make statements that led others to believe that he
had some to do with Jeannette's death. He said that
she might be a girl he abducted and killed who
was hitchhiking. Ed and Holly, don't buy it. You would
have to have intimate knowledge of that area. At would say,
(17:13):
it's all gravel that's been piled up. We've been up there,
it's impossible to get to. I think there's something very
sinister that went on here, he would conclude. Before her death,
in two thousand and eight, Florence, Jeanette's mother gave an
envelope to her pastor. It was filled with newspaper clippings
about Jeannette's death. I don't know how much longer I'm
(17:34):
going to be on this earth. This was an innocent child.
There are people out there who did this. I don't
know if they're alive or not. And with that, she
asked him to keep Jeannette's memory alive. Springfield Police Chief
John Cook told the Daily Beast in twenty twenty two.
It's still an active case of a suspicious death, as
there has not been any evidence as of yet to
(17:57):
be able to officially rule it a homicide. Jeanette's nephew,
John Bancy, has since passed away, as have many others
that might have had a piece of this puzzle. But
I'm still hoping that there's someone out there that knows
the truth. If you have any information about this case,
please contact Lieutenant Jose Vendis at nine zero eight three
(18:20):
five eight three zero four eight. You can also reach
out to the Justice for Jeanette Facebook page directly. Do
you have any insights or even a case you'd like
to suggest, feel free to send it to me. You'll
find a comment form and case submission link at Lordenarts
dot com. Thank You, NJ dot com, The Sun Discover
dot HubPages dot com, The New York Daily News, All
(18:43):
That's Interesting, Change dot org, My Central Jersey dot com,
Newspapers dot com, WEIRDNJ dot com, The La Times, AP News,
the Justice for Jeanette Facebook page, the book Death on
the Devil's Teeth, and Wikipedia for information contributing to today's story.
This episode was written by Christy Arnhardt and John Lorden
(19:04):
and produced by Lorden Arts. Thank you to our audience
here for the live recording session hosted on the YouTube
channel lord and Arts Studio. Two. Special thanks to seriously
mysterious financial supporters B Jones, Oddworld, Robert Martin and Sharon Ayers.
Most of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lorden.
Please join us again next week for another case I
(19:27):
know you'll find seriously mysterious
While looking into seriously mysterious cases, I've often seen where
some people will run off with unsupported conclusions. While I
always try to focus on honoring the truth of each story,
regardless of how much attention that perspective might gain, others
will sometimes take the facts and twist them into almost
completely fictionalized outcomes. Outcomes that experts statistics, and in some
(00:45):
instances where the case is eventually solved, the truth just
do not support. If they're doing this for self affirmation
or simply to grab the attention of others isn't always clear,
but they don't seem to understand that those words can
deeply affect the emotions of the family and sometimes even
affect the perspective of investigators. Today's case asks if the
(01:10):
death of a young girl was spun with satanic panic
to create a boogeyman, possibly for someone's gain, and if so,
how can you cut through those questionable conclusions to try
to find the truth or are the reasons for those
conclusions actually valid? And is that boogeyman real? I'm John
(01:30):
Lorden and today we're going to dive into all of
it with the story of the still unsolved death of
Jeanette to Palma. Jeanette Christine de Palma was born on
August third, nineteen fifty six, to Salvatory and Florence de Palma,
as part of a devout Catholic family living in New Jersey.
Having a new baby was nothing new to Florence. She
(01:51):
had already delivered three sons, and Jeannette would be her
fourth of five daughters. In nineteen sixty six, the family
moved to Springfield, New Jersey. The house on Clearview Drive
was the perfect size and in an upper middle class neighborhood.
Neighbors said that the family didn't socialize much and kept
to themselves for the most part. Soon Jeanette was entering
(02:13):
her teenage years. Her friends said that she was funny, sweet,
and a good reliable friend. She loved rock music and
hanging out sometimes at parties. Of course, religion would be
a big part of her life. Her parents said that
she was someone who always tried to lead others to Jesus.
She was kind and helpful to others and participated in
(02:34):
community programs that helped citizens who had struggled with addiction.
By nineteen seventy two, Jeanette was in her junior year
at Jonathan Dayton Regional High School. She was planning on
continuing her education after high school at Trinity Bible College
in North Dakota. It was August seventh, just four days
after Jeanette's sixteenth birthday. She had plans to spend time
(02:55):
with her cousin, Gail Donahue. The girls had recently met
some boys and they were supposed to meet up with them. However,
Jeanette's mother put her in charge of the household chores
that day. Jeanette called Gail to break the news that
she wasn't going to be able to make it, but
Gail convinced her to get everything done and then come
out later. By one pm, her chores were done. Jeanette
(03:16):
told her mother that she was going to use public
transportation to go meet up with Gail and that she'd
be home that evening. The day rolled by, but when
evening arrived, there was no sign of Jeannette. Her parents
became worried, and they would wind up calling the police
that night to tell them about their missing daughter. What
they didn't know at the time was that Jeannette did
(03:37):
not go to catch a train or a bus. It
would be later confirmed that she told Gail she was
planning on hitchhiking. This was the nineteen seventies. Hitchhiking was
far more commonplace at the time. Thankfully, we're now much
more aware of the dangers of this practice. Another twist
we hear too often in these cases is that, despite
the fact that her parents called the police the night before,
(03:59):
Jeannette's missing a person report wasn't actually taken until the
following day. Soon all hands were on deck looking for Jeannette.
Flyers were hung and searches were conducted, but there was
just no trace of her found. Of course, many considered
that she might have run away, even members of her
family and her ex boyfriend, who was the son of
(04:19):
the pastor at the church that her family attended. Maybe
she just ran off to New York and hopefully she'd
be back in a day or two. But the days
passed and there was still no sign of Jeannette. As
more time passed, some began considering the worst case scenario.
It had only been nine months since John List went
on his spree killing all the members of his family
(04:41):
in another New Jersey town. Could Jeannette have been the
victim of a homicide. The answer would be revealed in
a terrible way. Six weeks later, on September nineteenth, when
someone living at the apartments on Wilson Road called the police.
She reported that she saw her dog playing outside with
what she initially assumed was a bone, but upon inspection,
(05:03):
she realized that her dog returned from the nearby woods
with a decomposing human arm. Investigators and bloodhounds were immediately dispatched.
Behind that apartment complex was a section of woods that
connected to the Houdai Quarry. That quarry is where police
made the discovery. At the top of a rock formation
(05:24):
called the Devil's Teeth, Officer Donald Schwart found a body.
It would be later confirmed via dental records that this
was indeed Jeanette to Palma. Other items were found with
the body. Quote she had tan pants and a navy
blue shirt, Officer Schwartz recalled. Also interesting to note Jeanette
(05:45):
was not an outdoorsy girl, and the fact that she
was found wearing flip flops said that she hadn't planned
to go hiking, especially up this steep, rocky hill that
most people used hiking boots to reach. Also found near
her body were the contents of her purse, Vixen haaler,
a pack of tissues, lipstick, a compact, a comb, a
(06:05):
key on a ring, and a small eyeshadow palette. There
was also a clear vial with an unknown substance found.
Also of interest was what was not found, including her
purse and a gold necklace with a gold cross pendant
that Jeannette always wore. As more personnel began to arrive
on scene, there were murmurs about the other strange discoveries
(06:27):
that had been made in the woods and a question
of could this all be connected. Jeannette to Palma's body
had been found in the Houdai quarry and now investigators
(06:49):
were looking for the truth, but there would be serious
challenges in that task. The quarry sat east of Watchung Reservation,
the largest nature reserve in Union County. News. The Watchung
area is located on a ridge within northern central New Jersey,
and it covers an area of one thousand, nine hundred
and forty five acres. Stories of paganism and witchcraft surround
(07:13):
what is known as the Enchanted Forest in the reservation.
The Enchanted Forest is a pine plantation of sixteen thousand
trees placed in endless ruler straight rows by the New
Deal era civilian conservation Corps during the nineteen thirties. Little
sound penetrates the area, also giving cover and privacy to
people that would be inside the pine plantation. It's also
(07:36):
an area where someone could easily become lost in the
endless rows of trees. The Daily Journal reported that officers
had been called to the forest to investigate a number
of sacrifices involving dead animals. It was also reported that
burning candles, a bowl of blood, and feathers, and pigeons
with their necks snapped had been found in the forest
(07:56):
as well. A local transient who sometimes worked as a
golf caddie was looked into as a possible person of interest.
It took weeks for him to be located, but after
he was interviewed, police took him off the list. Another
man who drove a red Ford falcon was looked into,
as well as an old boyfriend of Jeanette's and a
watchman who lived in the quarry. All of them would
(08:19):
also be removed from the list. Reports about the discovery
of Jeanette's body would wind up in the local press
with titles that were connecting the possibility of witchcraft or
paganism being the culprit. These reports would detail other findings
by investigators, findings that someone with a critical eye would
immediately find questionable and easily based on interpretation. There was
(08:41):
word that her body was found in a coffin shape
made out of arranged wood branches. There were reports that
makeshift wooden crosses were placed around her head. Then Reverend
James Tate, the pastor of the Depalmas family's church, gave
an interview to the Daily News that was published on
October fourth, the headline priest's theory Devil's Disciples killed girl.
(09:05):
In it, he stated that he believed that Satanists had
killed Jeanette quote she was so religious that she would
often talk to friends and acquaintances about God. He said
his theory was that she had tried to lecture devil
worshipers about Christ and their fanaticism arose and they killed her.
While I don't doubt that this was truly an act
(09:28):
of evil that took this young woman's life, the theory
is otherwise based on conjecture, and one could argue had
an obvious benefit to the person pushing it, filling in
more empty seats in the pews. On Sunday morning, and
selling some more copies of the daily news with the
attention grabbing headline. The truth was that determining her cause
of death was already challenging, let alone trying to determine
(09:51):
what conversation might have been her last decomposition was so
bad that the coroner was unable to conduct a conclusive autopsy.
He did report that her body was found lying face
down on a quote rock formation surrounding the body, already
a very clear difference from the coffin made of wood
(10:11):
being reported. It also makes me wonder if this was
indeed an intentionally symbolized coffin, or an effort by someone
to keep the remains in place to avoid the type
of discovery that eventually happened when an animal successfully spread
her remains. A formation of rocks in a quarry doesn't
necessarily show much premeditation or planning, and was likely more
(10:34):
of an improvised method. No bullet holes were found in
her body, but fractures related to blunt force trauma pointed
to how she might have died. Her clothes were preserved
and tested for evidence, but it was concluded in a
nineteen seventy three report that there were no foreign hairs found.
The stains on the clothes could not be tested for
(10:54):
blood or signs of sexual assault, as they were too
degraded for the technology at the time. Because of this
severe lack of information, her death was only ruled suspicious.
A search of Jeanette's room would just add fuel to
the fire and more questions to the mystery. She loved
to read and had many books, but among them was
(11:15):
a copy of the Satanic Bible by Anton LeVay. Her
diary was filled with entries talking about typical things that
teen girls do, going to parties, drinking alcohol, and kissing boys.
This was definitely changing the perspective that maybe Jeannette was
not exactly the devout daughter her parents knew, and for me,
raises more questions about her priest's theory. On her last conversation,
(11:39):
many wondered if she had actually fallen in with the
wrong crowd and maybe even began using drugs. Could that
explain the vile with the unknown substance. It would also
be discovered that she was known to smoke marijuana socially,
but outside of that, she wasn't known to use other
harder drugs. With no suspects, not much in the way
(12:00):
of clues, the case just went cold. That was until
the nineteen nineties hit and a magazine called Weird New
Jersey began recounting the case. The magazine eventually turned into
a website that still follows the case to this day.
A new wave of people were getting to know the
details of Jeanette's death and wanting to find answers. The
(12:21):
most noteworthy efforts would come from Ed Salzano and Holly Zooel.
Ed grew up in the area and moved back there
after working as a PI in New York for a
number of years. After speaking with Jeannette's nephew, John Bancy
and receiving parts of the FBI's investigative file from him,
Ed and Holly created the Justice for Jeanette Facebook page.
(12:43):
They wanted to not just try to find Jeanette's killer,
but to also honor her nephew's request to help keep
her memory alive. They have faced the same challenge that
I mentioned at the start of this episode. The perception
was so baked into the available information it actually took
focus away and in some instances changed the known facts. Instead,
(13:06):
innuendo and slanted observations took center stage. Of course, satanic
panic would grow in the nineteen eighties and hit a
bit of a fever point in the nineteen nineties. During
that time, it was believed that Satanists were everywhere and
they were after your children for sacrifices. When Ed and
Hawley first started working the case, they heard the rumors
(13:27):
that a flood in the late nineties had destroyed the
file and all associated evidence, yet another aspect of this
case that just wasn't true. They decided to try to
request the file again and were surprised to find that
somehow the case file had turned back up. Almost immediately,
Ed and Holly began to see very big inconsistencies. According
(13:48):
to those early reports, there were satanic symbols around Jeannette's body,
the sticks that formed a coffin around her and the
wooden crosses around her head. In the actual crime scene photos,
which redacted versions can be found online and I reviewed
for myself, there are no crosses, there's no coffin shape
made from sticks at most, there are a few fallen
(14:10):
trees near her body, and the rock arrangement is haphazard
at best. Where were all these satanic symbols that the
papers were lynch pinning their headlines to Surprisingly, despite those photos,
Ed still believes that a cult of some kind may
have been involved, and there's been some form of cover
up all these years. In a case with so much speculation,
(14:33):
where are the basic theories that we've seen time and
time again in real solved cases, spurned lovers, crimes of opportunity,
drug deal's gone bad. This story has been beaten like
a drum for so long that it seems unable to
shake loose these long lasting assumptions. Ed said it himself
in an article that The Daily Beast written in twenty
(14:54):
twenty two, quote the lore is there. What isn't there
is the evidence? Ed and Holly then focused on a
question that I ask myself all the time. Can modern
technology move this case forward? Her clothes couldn't be tested
when she died, but can they now be tested with
modern methods including DNA technology. In an effort to compel
(15:18):
the prosecutor's office to re examine the case and test
Janette's clothing, Ed file the lawsuit quote, what it really
comes down to is if they still have it, it
would seem smart to test it. If we need to
take up a collection to get it done. I'm sure
we can, he would say, sadly, in twenty nineteen that
(15:39):
case was dismissed. He was told by the judge resident
ed Salzano doesn't have standing to sue the Union County
Prosecutor's office, and the court can't tell authorities how to
investigate a crime. In an era when we're regularly seeing thirty, forty,
and even fifty year old cases solved, why wouldn't they
test THEO It makes the theories about a police cover
(16:03):
up seem much more possible, and of course adds to
the static that's obscuring nearly every aspect of this case.
Over forty years later, we still don't know if this
was a homicide, an accident, or perhaps even a suicide.
I can't shake one question from my mind. What was
in that vial? Apparently her mother told the press that
(16:26):
her daughter had a cold that day, which would explain
the vixenhaler and the tissues. But was that bottle really
a cold medication like chorusidin Could the vixenhaler and tissues
actually point to a different type of harder drug use.
There just seems to be many more believable possibilities in
this case, but they've been obliterated by a literal witch hunt.
(16:50):
In twenty twenty one, serial killer Richard Cottingham, known as
the New York Torso Killer or Times Square Killer, started
to make statements that led others to believe that he
had some to do with Jeannette's death. He said that
she might be a girl he abducted and killed who
was hitchhiking. Ed and Holly, don't buy it. You would
have to have intimate knowledge of that area. At would say,
(17:13):
it's all gravel that's been piled up. We've been up there,
it's impossible to get to. I think there's something very
sinister that went on here, he would conclude. Before her death,
in two thousand and eight, Florence, Jeanette's mother gave an
envelope to her pastor. It was filled with newspaper clippings
about Jeannette's death. I don't know how much longer I'm
(17:34):
going to be on this earth. This was an innocent child.
There are people out there who did this. I don't
know if they're alive or not. And with that, she
asked him to keep Jeannette's memory alive. Springfield Police Chief
John Cook told the Daily Beast in twenty twenty two.
It's still an active case of a suspicious death, as
there has not been any evidence as of yet to
(17:57):
be able to officially rule it a homicide. Jeanette's nephew,
John Bancy, has since passed away, as have many others
that might have had a piece of this puzzle. But
I'm still hoping that there's someone out there that knows
the truth. If you have any information about this case,
please contact Lieutenant Jose Vendis at nine zero eight three
(18:20):
five eight three zero four eight. You can also reach
out to the Justice for Jeanette Facebook page directly. Do
you have any insights or even a case you'd like
to suggest, feel free to send it to me. You'll
find a comment form and case submission link at Lordenarts
dot com. Thank You, NJ dot com, The Sun Discover
dot HubPages dot com, The New York Daily News, All
(18:43):
That's Interesting, Change dot org, My Central Jersey dot com,
Newspapers dot com, WEIRDNJ dot com, The La Times, AP News,
the Justice for Jeanette Facebook page, the book Death on
the Devil's Teeth, and Wikipedia for information contributing to today's story.
This episode was written by Christy Arnhardt and John Lorden
(19:04):
and produced by Lorden Arts. Thank you to our audience
here for the live recording session hosted on the YouTube
channel lord and Arts Studio. Two. Special thanks to seriously
mysterious financial supporters B Jones, Oddworld, Robert Martin and Sharon Ayers.
Most of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lorden.
Please join us again next week for another case I
(19:27):
know you'll find seriously mysterious
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