42 Year Old Cold Case Heats Up
By: Amanda Waugh
April 16, 2014
SOUTH DAKOTA- After 42 years of wondering and waiting, the car that two teenage girls disappeared in is finally found.
On May 29, 1971, two 17 year old girls, Cheryl Miller and Pamela Jackson, were heading to a party at a nearby gravel pit when they went missing. At the time they were presented dead from a car crash in the creek, but no car or bodies were ever found.
In September of last year, about a half-mile away from the girls supposed crash location in Beresford, SD, a car was found. “ Last year's weather -- a wet spring followed by strong creek currents and then a drought -- caused the car to become visible and recovered, caked in mud, authorities said” according to an article in CNN by Michael Martinez. They found two sets of remains in the car, and after DNA testing were determined to be the remains of Miller and Jackson. The Attorney General Marty Jackley reported “Their 1960 Studebaker Lark's ignition and headlights were turned on, and the transmission was in the top, or third, gear, Jackley said. Their clothing contained bones and remnants of shoes were found, and no evidence of alcohol was found in the car, he said.”
There were no signs of foul play of any kind so the police ruled the crash as an accident. The families of the missing girls now have closure, and have the peace of mind that their daughters were not missing because of a brutal crime.
April 16, 2014
SOUTH DAKOTA- After 42 years of wondering and waiting, the car that two teenage girls disappeared in is finally found.
On May 29, 1971, two 17 year old girls, Cheryl Miller and Pamela Jackson, were heading to a party at a nearby gravel pit when they went missing. At the time they were presented dead from a car crash in the creek, but no car or bodies were ever found.
In September of last year, about a half-mile away from the girls supposed crash location in Beresford, SD, a car was found. “ Last year's weather -- a wet spring followed by strong creek currents and then a drought -- caused the car to become visible and recovered, caked in mud, authorities said” according to an article in CNN by Michael Martinez. They found two sets of remains in the car, and after DNA testing were determined to be the remains of Miller and Jackson. The Attorney General Marty Jackley reported “Their 1960 Studebaker Lark's ignition and headlights were turned on, and the transmission was in the top, or third, gear, Jackley said. Their clothing contained bones and remnants of shoes were found, and no evidence of alcohol was found in the car, he said.”
There were no signs of foul play of any kind so the police ruled the crash as an accident. The families of the missing girls now have closure, and have the peace of mind that their daughters were not missing because of a brutal crime.