A cold case team consisting of MSP West Branch Post detectives and the Oscoda Township Police Department has been formed to try to solve the October 31, 1969 disappearance of Patricia Spencer, 16, and Pamela Hobley, 15. That sounds like tough sledding if all they have to go on is a description of the girls and what they were wearing when last seen 50 years ago, but at least police are giving it a go.
Here’s another cold case closed after using more advanced DNA testing, this time in Jerome, Idaho:
Twenty-eight years after Wilma Mobley was murdered, police identified her killer, who had offed himself in 2001. In June 2022, Sgt. Clinton Wagner took over the investigation at the Jerome Police Department and contacted the Idaho State Police forensics lab to submit the case for more advanced DNA analysis than had been conducted in the past. Detectives and technicians went over evidence collected during previous iterations of the investigation into Mobley’s murder and ultimately sent a portion of it to the lab for testing in March of this year.
On Monday, lab technicians reported that “a significant amount of a DNA profile” matching Mobley had been found on a clasp from the killer’s underwear. Police have closed the cold case because of the amount of DNA matching the killer and excluding the other suspects mentioned in Mobley’s case file, and because no other DNA profile was present.
A statement from Jerome PD:
“The Jerome Police Department thanks the officers, detectives, and prosecutors who have worked on this case over the years, and helped to preserve the evidence which was available for this testing,” he said. “We also greatly appreciate the support and efforts put forth by the members of the Idaho State Police Forensics lab who made this closure possible for the victim’s family, and our department.” (Emphasis added.)
In the OCCK case there are at least 17 DNA samples that have been taken over the course of this investigation. The evidence for comparison purposes consists of partial mtDNA from hairs and a partial Y-str DNA sample. All that money, all that work, all that Jessica Cooper blathering on in 2012 about how the case “will be solved by science.” Yet they won’t use a sophisticated third-party lab specializing in degraded evidence to evaluate for DNA evidence these 17-plus samples could be compared to.
Take the next and only logical step. Have ALL of the evidence in this case evaluated, tested or retested by Othram, a third-party lab the MSP has used in other cold cases. Those kids were dressed by somebody before their bodies were dumped. Maybe they wore gloves. Maybe not. That’s FOUR sets of clothing.
The state lab has demonstrated its limits. Time to move on. No more excuses. We know–the evidence was mishandled, some (conveniently) lost, all of it probably stored improperly–yes, in what was the biggest manhunt in the country in 1977 and in the unsolved serial abduction, captivity and murder of at least four kids in Oakland County. Send it to a third-party lab for testing and report back to the public even if it is a “fail.” Tell us all how these evidence fuck ups will never happen again. End your 46-year news black out.
All those DNA samples and nothing to test them against. Get a move on. Your colleagues in the western part of the state are starting to kick your ass.
DIGITIZE THE CASE FILES AS HAS BEEN DONE IN OTHER MICHIGAN COLD CASES. It should have been done long ago, but you are going to need the capability to search those documents if you get genetic genealogy results. Use the services of the college students you work with at either MSU or WMU. They will do a better job than anyone who is too busy to return a call or email, and my guess is they won’t destroy evidence. Plus, the price is right. While you are at it, have them prepare a redacted version (legal redactions only, please) and make it available to the public for a nominal sum. Consider it a Karmic repayment for your complete lack of transparency in this case.
DO WHATEVER CHAIN OF COMMAND VOODOO AND THEN CHAIN OF CUSTODY PROCEDURES ARE NECESSARY TO GET THE OCCK EVIDENCE TO OTHRAM LABS. It’s four homicides. You have a giant budget and you squandered all kinds of money pushing this case around various desks for the past 15 years, not to mention the 30 before that. I know when you work for government that “there is always tomorrow” for tasks that could have been done almost 50 years ago, but how about having some integrity on this for a change?
INTERVIEW SURVIVORS OF CHILD SEX ABUSE/CHILD PORN RINGS/”PARTIES” OPERATING IN AND AROUND OAKLAND COUNTY DURING THE OCCK ERA, INCLUDING THOSE AFFILIATED WITH GM EMPLOYEES AND VICTIMS OF N. FOX ISLAND SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PEDOPHILE SUBCULTURE FROM THAT TIME PERIOD AS PART OF THE REASON WHY THE OCCK CASES WERE NOT SOLVED. I know of two retired professionals who are trained to conduct forensic interviews of this nature. They would do it for free. No more cops further battering or doubting survivors willing to come forward about the people involved in these heinous crimes and the locations where children were victimized and filmed. You need to understand what was going on in Oakland County so you can understand how someone was able to freely escalate to child murder. These survivors offered to help. You shut them down.
Are you too busy to ever do the right things in this case? You can’t have it both ways. You can’t claim “open/active investigation” and then do nothing in this case. There are three concrete steps you can take to make it look like you honestly want answers in this case.
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I hope MSP will do the testing during your lifetime. For the love of God, Catherine I pray that this will happen! Your relentless dedication is beyond anything I’m sure the MSP has seen and I hope they are moved to action. So many have already passed on that deserved answers and closure, which saddens me so. Keep on and may God bless this case to its long overdue end for you.
Thank you. Waiting for people to die off seems like a bad strategy, but so far it’s worked for them. Ruth Stebbins, Marion King, Dan Mihelich, Mike Stebbins, Tom Robinson, Barry King. I do not believe anything moves the MSP. It is a strange agency. Militaristic, chip on the shoulder, strained relationships with other agencies–just an impenetrable and unfortunate culture. As another reader observed, they can never be wrong. How dare anyone ask questions? Cooperation and transparency are not a part of their mojo.
That being said, I repeat that I view the true source of the rot in this case as the Oakland County Prosecutor’s office (specifically L. Brooks Patterson, Richard Thompson, Jessica Cooper and Paul Walton). Patterson was all too happy to pass off the “fail” to the Michigan State Police. What better place for the case to be entombed for all time than the MSP? Prosecutors then claim they are not an investigating agency (except when they most certainly are) and can’t force the police to do anything. Like I said–impenetrable.
Cathy, I’ve been following your blog on and off for so long, and honestly, this is the one unresolved case I’d pay dearly for answers on. I’ve read every book and listened to every podcast on the OCCK, plus a ton of background reading on pedophile rings in that era in general, so I understand all too well why no one (except you and a few other dedicated individuals) is willing to pursue answers on this one. Pulling on this thread leads to a lot of uncomfortable places, but that’s exactly why the thread SHOULD be pulled.
Sending positive thoughts to you and your family, and hoping as ever that someone with authority will actually take the time to care about this case again someday.
I get so enraged and frustrated but I remind myself that these are are killers, they are the worst of the worst and they will do anything to keep their secrets. Everyone else is terrified, and rightly so. I have 9 living family members who could give me information or help but they are all in complete denial. I feel paranoid about my safety but I’m only safe because I don’t know anything. Mostly people don’t believe me or care. I won’t ever stop talking about these rings. I appreciate you Cathy!
I can’t stop thinking about what you said above. Can we put together a task force and get media and put pressure on? Get survivors together, together we could all be a force to be reckoned with.