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Unsolved Connecticut River Serial Killer Case — True Crime

Lisa Marie Fuqua
15 min readMar 18, 2020

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In the ’80s, a Serial Killer was hunting along the New Hampshire and Vermont Borders.

Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash

Connecticut River Valley near Route 91 Victims

October 24, 1978

Cathy Millican was the first known victim. Cathy had been at the Chandler Brook Wetland Preserve photographing birds. She was found the next day a few yards from where she had been last seen in New London, New Hampshire.

July 25, 1981

Mary Elizabeth Critchley disappeared while hitchhiking near Interstate 91 at the Massachusetts/Vermont border.

Her body was found fifteen days later on August 9 on Stage Coach Road in Claremont, New Hampshire.

May 30, 1984

Bernice Courtemanche, a nurse’s aide, vanished from West Claremont, New Hampshire, while she was hitchhiking to her boyfriend’s house in Newport. It was assumed that she was traveling along Route 12.

Her remains would be found on April 9, 1986, in Kellyville, New Hampshire. They were located about a thousand yards from where Ellen Fried’s remains had been discovered in 1985.

Editorial Map created by The Times for the Connecticut Valley River Serial Killings | via The Times

July 20, 1984

Ellen Fried, also a nurse, vanished in West Claremont, New Hampshire. She stopped after leaving work at the Valley Regional Hospital to make a phone call to her sister.

As the two talked, Ellen commented that a strange car seemed to be driving back and forth by the grocery store Leo’s Market, where she was using the payphone.

Ellen was nervous enough about the other vehicle that she told her sister to stay on the line while she made sure her car started before she hung up with her.

The next day Ellen didn’t show up at work and was reported as a missing person. Her car was found later that day abandoned on Jarvis Road; it was only a few miles from the grocery store.

Ellen’s remains would be found on September 19, 1985. She was located on the banks of the Sugar…

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Lisa Marie Fuqua
Lisa Marie Fuqua

Written by Lisa Marie Fuqua

True Crime Writer in Las Vegas. I used to be a Web Developer in the Newsroom, now I spend my time in coffee shops researching murder.

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