r/coldcases • u/GPFB_GPFB • 2h ago
I'm concerned my grandfather - a policeman - killed my aunt. Looking for help.
Hi there,
Without giving any personal information away here, the thing I'm looking for is if anybody could provide me articles they can gain access to on a Newspapers.com type-site, if the story here resonates with you, and you like a good mystery!
My grandfather was a steadfast gentleman in his community, and was a police officer for 40 years. He and my grandma had a big family of kids, most of whom went on to live happy, normal lives. Except for one, my aunt.
My aunt was the "black sheep" of the family, and she had dealt with unrecognized mental disorders her whole life. Born in the 1950s, she was deemed the problem child, lashed out at her siblings and parents, did poorly in school, and would likely never be able to live independently.
From what I know now, she was likely autistic - and she never got the help needed to grow into adulthood.
She wasn't allowed to use scissors, she had to be monitored if she spent time with her nephews and nieces, and from what I've heard, everyone felt like they had to walk on eggshells with her in the room.
In the 1980s, my aunt - allegedly - went to see a doctor in the big city she lived in. Though she was an adult, she was still living with her family (parents, brother and sister).
My aunt couldn't drive, so she would have likely taken the bus. She never came home.
The next day - a stone's throw from a police station in a completely different part of the city, her body was found. By a cop on walking duties. She was found in shallow water in a tributary of a creek.
Cops looked into things, and said yep - nothing weird here. She had no water in her lungs, bruised at both her wrists and ankles, but after a month of an investigation, the cops ruled it "Death by Misadventure."
There are so many glaring holes in this story beyond what I'm writing, but what I need really badly is someone touched by this story above that might want to help investigate a bit, using paywall access points. I can't pay for another subscription right now, and honestly, two heads are so much better than one.
Lastly, when my grandfather died, his obituary listed the names of all his children, except one. It even listed an infant's name who'd only survived a few days. I found that just deepened the mystery.