“Everyone has something they can do. You’ll know the right time. “ Karen Beaudin

November is synonymous with lasting images. Devoting our time to the sacrifice of veterans, the “Norman Rockwellish” visions of family gatherings around the Thanksgiving turkey and the ever so engrained images of baby boomers regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

• In the month of November 1971, I was a sophomore in high school… On the national front, some of the news stories included:
• 1971 Nov 13, The US space probe Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars. NASA’s Mariner 9 circled Mars and revealed dried beds of rivers that flowed billions of years ago
• 1971 Nov 10, Two women were tarred and feathered in Belfast for dating British soldiers. In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, a Catholic girl was tarred and feathered for her intention of marrying a British soldier
• 1971 Nov 12, President  Nixon announced that he would withdraw 45,000 more troops from Vietnam by February, 1972
• 1971 Nov 18, The US federal Airborne-Hunting Act prohibited shooting animals from planes without license.
• 1971 Nov 22, The US Supreme Court struck down dozens of state laws that discriminated against women when it ruled that an Idaho law violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection.
• 1971 Nov 24, On Thanksgiving Eve, DB Cooper boarded Flight 305 in Portland, Oregon  and demanded $200,000 threatening to detonate  a bomb. He parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 with the money over the Cascade Mountains near Ariel, Washington and was never seen again. FBI agent, Ralph Himmelsbach wrote the book NORJAK that described the case. A packet containing $5,880 of the ransom money was found in 1980 on the north shore of the Columbia River, just west of the Washington city of Vancouver. In 2011, evidence was presented that Lynn Doyle Cooper (d.1999) of Oregon, a Korean War veteran, was the hijacker.
• Kathy Gloddy, the youngest, of six children from Franklin, New Hampshire was brutally raped and murdered at the age of thirteen.  She was born, February 13, 1958 and her life was taken on November 21, 1971.

 

Kathy Gloddy’s death did not rise to the level of national attention when it first occurred. However, you can be sure that it was palpable, raw and the most significant event in the small town of Franklin, and more importantly, one of the greatest heartaches that the Gloddy family was ever to endure!  Between 1979 and 1997, a brother would die from a medical condition as well as Kathy’s father. Her mother died after committing suicide in 1997.   Within the mix of siblings invariably each takes on different roles. One, perhaps the “take charge leader,” others are followers and still others, versions in between the extremes.

Karen Gloddy Beaudin was tormented by her childhood memories of that night locked up in her psyche, unable to share…and haunted by an unsolved case gone cold.  Karen has been “the keeper of Kathy’s torch” all of these years in a fight to obtain justice for her sister and those who would walk the same treacherous path.

During this broadcast of Shattered Lives Radio, Karen shared her heartfelt account of Kathy, the era in which the crime occurred, and her important mission to serve others.

 

LISTEN TO SHATTERED LIVES RADIO 

• Introduction to our guest
• Kathy Gloddy…in the beginning an environmentally conscious person “with an old soul”

  

• The typical initial response- “Not much we can do” Being laughed at…
• Disbelief… and the media
• Waiting for the word…It’s all in the timing
• Beaten, raped, strangled,  run over
• The all-powerful Attorney General and effects on the case
• The impetus for the book, “A Child is Missing”
• As an author, be willing to open up
• This is not “the gory details”, but the emotional turmoil
• A touching story from law enforcement
• Karen’s passion to work with law enforcement
• Re-victimization and “I don’t know what to do with you”
• It started with a retired detective in New Hampshire:
• Ladyjustice asks about the solving of homicides and the interest in forming cold case units?
• Statistics – Unsolved murders in Connecticut, Texas and California
• The DNA Law in New Hampshire
• Overlooked cases…and the importance of listing ALL cold cases
• There are so many things we can do to help:
• It takes proactivity from victims and grass-roots organizations like CUE Center for Missing Persons
• Paying it forward even when you’re hurting too!
• Karen’s wish list – A booklet
• The Cue Center: “They know exactly what I mean…”

• A message about the expectations of law enforcement
• “Everyone has something they can do…You’ll know the right time.”

Contact Information:
Website:  KarenBeaudin.Com   Email:  ksbeaudin@gmail.com

Questions from the Listeners:

• What were the circumstances prior to Kathy’s abduction and murder?
• What did family members do to investigate?
• How did the family learn more about the case and why?
• How does Karen view her journey of writing the book?
• What made the difference in the publisher’s interest?
• What is the focus of Karen’s second book?
• What is Karen’s goal when working with law enforcement?
• What happened when they advocated in the New Hampshire Legislature for a Cold Case Unit?
• Edward Earl Dukette as a suspect…How could they not have made an arrest?
• What are the unique aspects of solving a cold case?
• What parameters impact the forming of a cold case unit?

References: http://timelines.ws/20thcent/1971.HTML

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2007/december/dbcooper_123107

Disclaimer: The comments expressed on this website or on the broadcasts of Shattered Lives do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of the hosts, producers, or other guests.

November 21, 1971: Lasting Infamy in a Small New Hampshire Town