Unsolved: Kathy Lynn Gloddy

FRANKLIN, NH (AP) - In 1971, the murder of a thirteen year old girl stunned a small New Hampshire town. No one has ever been arrested for the murder of Kathy Lynn Gloddy, but after all this time, the case is getting new attention. New England's Unsolved shows us the victim's family is more hopeful than ever that this case will be solved.

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At St. John's cemetery in Tilton, NH, Ann Marie Ring and Janet Young leave flowers for their youngest sister, Kathy Lynn Gloddy, murdered in nearby Franklin in 1971, holding each other at Kathy's grave, these sisters are more determined than ever to find Kathy's killer. “That's what we are praying for every day, that someday the Gloddy family will have answers,” Ann Marie says.

On November 21, 1971, Kathy Lynn Gloddy was 13 years old, and in eighth grade. Kathy lived in a home with her parents, and five brothers and sisters. “She was a sweet little girl. She was always bubbly,” Ann Marie says. That afternoon, at about 5pm, Kathy left the house to walk to a nearby convenience store with her German Shepherd, Tasha. Kathy never made it home, but Tasha did, “I let the dog out thinking, jeez, you're crazy, just crazy. I let the dog out. Didn't realize the dog was searching for her master,” Karen Beaudin, Kathy’s sister, said the family immediately knew something was drastically wrong.

“That wasn’t like her at all, or any of us. We never did it. We always came home by the time we were supposed to be there,” Janet, Kathy’s sister says. Late the next day, Kathy's body was found on the other side of town, “I went into the kitchen by myself and I put my face into the corner of the wall in there and just, by myself. I just sobbed,” Karen says. An autopsy determined Kathy Gloddy was beaten, raped, and strangled. Her body had been run over by a car. “They backed up over her, ran back over her forward, backed up over her again, and then ran over her again, and went forward. So, she was run over four times,” Karen says. “Who could do this to a child? No matter the circumstances, who could take a human life?” Ann Marie says.

Since 1971, teams of New Hampshire detectives worked the case, recently Kathy's body was exhumed. There are possible suspects, but no arrests. Now, 38 years later, the family is turning to private investigator Tom Shamshak for help. “I believe firmly this case is solvable. I hope to crack it,” Shamshak says.

Going back to the timeline, it appears Kathy Gloddy made it to the store where she bought ice cream and potato sticks, but after that, she did not go straight home. Instead, she went to Franklin High School, where her sister Karen was attending a sports banquet. “She was actually seen at the high school looking in the cafeteria windows, they think maybe she was looking for me, because I was there,” Karen says. At the crime scene, Shamshak is struck by the brutality of Kathy Gloddy's murder, “that type of boiling rage, externalized is very personal.” “There's no doubt in my mind the perpetrator, or more than one individual, that was involved in this knew her, and she knew them.”

Recently one man, a convicted sex offender who once lived in an apartment over the Gloddy's, told Florida sheriffs he had information about Kathy’s murder, but when New Hampshire authorities tried to interview him, he recanted. “I firmly believe he has intimate knowledge of this case,” Shamshak says. “I think he's been harboring something deep within his soul,” Ann Marie says, “I know he's the key. He's one key to this mystery.”

But there are smaller mysteries too. For 38 years, Kathy's family never knew exactly where their sister was found, until now. The site is only three miles from Kathy's home. “Now we have a portion of the truth revealed to us,” Ann Marie says “the truth has been kept from this family long enough. Now it's time for the truth to be revealed for Kathy's sake.”

If you have any information about the Kathy Gloddy case, please call Shamshak Investigative Services at (800) 422-0944.