Unsolved: The Missing and Murdered Women of Chautauqua County

May 13, 2009

Situated in the southwestern corner of New York State, Chautauqua County is the westernmost of New York's counties. The Web site of the visitors' bureau describes the area as a "gateway to the west," where visitors can enjoy "grapes, wineries, cultural, culinary, and resort centers." What you won't find on that Web site is information about the county's unsolved abductions and murders of women - some of which date to the 1980s.

Jane Doe: On Dec. 6, 1983, utility company employees discovered the partially clad body of a woman in a ditch along Route 17 in Ellery. The victim, who has never been identified, had been shot once in the back, twice in the chest, and once inside the mouth. Based upon the victim's characteristics, investigators believe she was a European; however, all attempts to identify her have been unsuccessful. She is described as a white female, 33-37 years of age, 5'4" and 128 lbs., with grayish brown hair and brown eyes. She had a wart above her left eye and a mole behind her left ear. The autopsy revealed that the victim had given birth to at least one child, some 15 years prior to her death.  The victim had bridge work on the right side of her mouth, which is believed to have been done in Europe. A handwritten note found with the victim was from the Blue Boy Motor Lodge in Vancouver, British Columbia; however, investigators have been unable to decipher the abbreviations and numbers written on it.

Kathy Wilson: Last seen on May 18, 1988, Kathy disappeared after an afternoon trip to Quality Markets in Falconer. Her vehicle was later found at another grocery store on the opposite side of town. On Sept. 24, 1989, Kathy's remains were found in a wooded area along Lindell Road in Warren County, Pennsylvania.  Her case remains unsolved.

Judith Lynn McElheney: The body of 27-year-old Judith McElheney was found on Oct. 8, 1990, at a rest stop on Route 5 in Sheridan. According to police, she had sustained a single gunshot to her head close to her left ear. Investigators have been unable to determine a motive in the case, and no suspects have ever been identified.

Rebecca Nicholson: On Dec. 13, 1990, Rebecca's body was discovered inside her Westfield home. According to police, she had been shot. To date, no one has been arrested in the case.

Melinda Juul: An on-duty police officer discovered the body of 32-year-old Melinda Juul on the morning of Jan. 20, 1993, along Marion Street in Jamestown. The victim had been shot, and a .40-caliber shell casing was found at the scene. Neighborhood residents reported being suspicious of a black car that had driven through the area, but it remains unclear if the vehicle was connected to the crime. Melinda's body was approximately two blocks from a resource center, where she had helped care for the developmentally disabled. Melinda was last seen when she left work to go on break. According to police, she used her bank debit card at a plaza shortly before her murder. She also purchased a magazine at the Foote Avenue Quality Markets. Melinda's husband and four children were at home during the incident. The motive behind the murder remains unknown, and police have yet to name a suspect in the case.

Lori Ceci Bova: On the evening of June 7, 1997, 26-year-old Lori Bova, her husband Tyrone Bova, and her sister went to dinner at Red Lobster in Lakewood. Lori and her husband left the restaurant at about 10:30 p.m. and returned home together. According to the initial statements Tyrone gave to police, he last saw his wife shortly after their return home, when they got into an argument and she went outside to smoke a cigarette. What happened to her after that remains a mystery. Lori is described as a white female, 5'4" tall, 106 pounds, with long curly brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing gray sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt printed with the words "Freeport Bahamas."

Yolanda Bindics: Twenty-five-year-old Yolanda was last seen on the night of Aug. 10, 2004, when she left her job at the Family Dollar store in Jamestown. The following day, police found Yolanda's car in the parking lot of an Arby's restaurant on Fluvanna Ave., about half a mile from the Family Dollar store.  On Sept. 8, 2004, police found Yolanda's purse, keys, and other personal items in two separate storm drains in Jamestown. The search for Yolanda continued until Sep. 10, 2006, when hunters discovered her remains in a state forest in the Town of Charlotte. Yolanda's death has been ruled a homicide, and at least two persons of interest - both of whom maintain their innocence - have been named in the case; however, no one has been arrested, and the case remains unsolved.

Corrie Anderson: On Oct. 28, 2008, 36-year-old Corrie L. Anderson, a mother of three from Ashville, disappeared after visiting her boyfriend at the Lake County Dodge dealership on Washington Street in Jamestown. Items found at Corrie's house suggest she made it home before her disappearance. On Oct. 30, a hunter discovered Corrie's car abandoned at a gas well off Kortwright Road in the town of Busti, approximately two miles from Corrie's house. Multiple agencies have participated in a search effort. Authorities and members of the search and recovery group 3 View have used ATVs, helicopters, and dogs to inspect areas of interest; however, no sign of her has been found. Corrie Anderson is 5'11", 170 pounds, with green eyes and blond hair. She was last seen wearing black corduroy pants, a black leather jacket, and small wire-rimmed glasses. Her keys and black, 8" x 8" square purse, with a G.H. Bass & Company logo, are also missing.

Though investigators do not believe any of the cases mentioned here are connected, they have acknowledged that some of them have similar characteristics. Unfortunately, County Legislatures have repeatedly turned down funding requests for a cold case squad. As a result, it is unclear if any of these cases will ever be solved.

Anyone with information on any of the cases listed here should contact the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office at 716-753-2131 or the New York State Police at 716-665-3113.

Related Links:
Missing Mother of Three, Corrie Anderson, Needs Your Help
Who Killed Yolanda Bindics?

Photo Credits: Contributed

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Comments

[Joe]

That's so many women. How could they have so many cases unsolved?

[Kat]

I dont understand why a community with such a high unsolved/missing rate would not want a division to look into this. solving an old crime could prevent a new crime.
the cost of life versus the cost of the division should be a no brainer.

[Paula]

My boyfriends father was incarcerated about 10 years ago for supposedly raping a 5 yr old girl; he was sentence with no evidence or DNA not even a testimony from the little girl but yet was sentece 25 yrs to life. He is currently in the Comstock Correctional in NY , if you can please help me... I would appreciate it so much. I would like to get an appeal on his case. I tried the Innocence Project ... but I haven`t gotten any answers.

[MaggieO]

This is also a largely rural area, not a big city. This is far too many women. Feels like a serial killer to me.

[Ajlouny]

Are all these crimes related, serial murderer, maybe; or are there just a town full of abductors and murderers?

[TS]

i live in jamestown and im scared stupid to walk alone even during the day. and now i never leave my house without my cell phone. i walked to the dollar store few weeks ago and some guy was following me every short cut and path i took. i even did random ones good thing i got to the store in time. i called for someone to come get me.

[JP]

I lived in Chautauqua County, NY for 16 years. Most of the towns are small and have no police forces at all, relying instead on the County Sheriff's office located in Mayville, NY. One could commit nearly any crime and have at least a 30 minute jump on police. I guess we were lucky that crime just didn't happen much in that rural area. We left the area in 1989. It's very sad to hear that crime has finally come to even remote, quiet, sleepy little Chautauqua County.

[Dawn]

I have found so many missing women in New York state.
Besides the women listed above,
there are many women missing
from the Johnstown/Schenectady/Albany area.

Karen Wilson: 3/2/1985 ; missing Albany, NY
Erica Jayne Franolich; 10/13/1986; missing from Middleburg, NY
.. Suzanne Lyall: 3/2/1998, missing Albany, NY:
. Sue Carol Laimer: missing 3/1/2001
Sugarloaf, NY
Michelle Ann Harris; missing 9/11/2001,
Owego, NY.
..Audrey May Herron: missing 8/29/2002,
Catskill, NY
....Jennifer M Hammond, missing AUG. 2003,
Ballston Spa, NY
..Yvonne Torch: missing 6/9/2004,
Newburgh,NY
... BAMBI MADDEN, missing 1/11/ 2006,
Binhampton, Ny
..Denise Hart: missing 12/06/2007, Schenectady,NY: body found in Menands, NY
.. Bethanie L Dougherty, missing 4/1/2008,
Killawog, NY
. Lutricia Steele: missing 5/1/2008, Schenectady, NY
..,Elisha Vandermortel; missing 5/1/2008,
Geneva, NY
. Kellisue M. Ackernecht: missing 9/1/2008, Johnstown, NY
. Corrie L. Anderson 10/28/2008 JAMESTOWN, NY.
Two of these women are not in the same geographical area.
Odd, isn't it.
I have details of their cases.

[Dawn]

Another thing of note about the missing women listed above:
A lot of them were petite, blonde, in their 30's.
Something to think about.

There are other missing women listed on NY missing persons site, I have not had a chance to look at all of them.

I also have a list of the missing men
in that same area.

[Jordan]

These women have no connection to each other. There physic is not similiar look again at the sizes and height. People are becoming scared for no reason-there is no serial connection. Shame on the person(s) who is scaring innocent people by putting that thought out there. Look at the suspects, in each case they are people close to the victims. Arrests cannot be made unless strong evidence can support it. Also, look at other areas of the country, they all have there share of missing people. Agencies within the county are continually working on these cases. I agree it's eye-opening when you see how many women are missing, however; again shame on the so called crime experts for scaring people. Become a bit more knowledgeable about what is going on before commenting and unnessarily frightening people. Casting blame on the police agencies is counterproductive and stupid. Become knowledgeable and find out how you can help.

-Edited by David Lohr to add: My article says nothing about a serial killer.-

[Paul R. Potts]

Rebecca (Beckey -- her preferred spelling) Nicholson is (was) my cousin. This crime has gone far too long without a charge!

[beth]

i drive amish girls to the Chautauqua institute and they have been asking me if i have heard about the two bodies that were found buried there a couple a weeks ago i cant find anything on this.just wondering if anyone knows anything. june 22

[S]

First, to clarify/inform about Kathy Wilson. She was a loving wife and mother of 3 who was working while attempting to finish her college degree and was an active member of her church. She was abducted from the Falconer Quality Markets, and her car was discovered 24 hours later at the Chautauqua County Mall in Lakewood NY. She is still greatly missed.

As for the general safety of Jamestown, I think it is ridiculous that people are scared to walk down the street in the middle of the day. It does NOT take 30 minutes for police to respond for anything, Jamestown and the surrounding suburbs are too small for it to take longer than 5 minutes for an emergency response. Though it obviously has it's problems, overall, Jamestown is a very safe community.

[Sharon]

Chautauqua County is the most south-western county in the state. The most traveled section of the NYS thruway passes through it as well as NYS I-86 and state routes 5 & 20. Anyone traveling from the northeast to the midwest or Canada will travel through here in some way. It is an opportunity for murder or body dumping. My point is that people need to not be paranoid about the residents here. These relatively few missing persons/unsolved murder cases over up to 30 years are horrendous - yes. But most have overtones of domestic violence or drug/illicet crimes. Not saying something isn't 'off' - just that we can't live our lives here in this beautiful corner of the state under a cloud of paranoia.

[maggieo]

With a couple of exceptions, most of the women are from/have been found in the Jamestown area. There was one found in Sheridan, which is near Fredonia, but for the most part there are none in the Dunkirk-Fredonia area which has a similar population to Jamestown. If this were random or coincidental, you'd think there'd at least be some bodies from Dunkirk, which has some "rough" neighborhoods. Makes me think that there might be a connection between them, or that the Jamestown police are especially inept.

[L Mabe]

This world is full of predators of all kinds, it doesn't matter where you live, they could be your next door neighbor, for that matter. You must be your own protection by keeping yourself aware of all that surrounds you which includes people (family, friends, etc.). Not a good idea to go out alone anywhere anymore. This world has become tainted by evildoers.

[tragic truth]

better to be paranoid,than dead.

[Karen]

There is now another woman missing from Jamestown, NY!
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100207/NEWS02/302069923/-1/news

[Mary Gottsch]

My sister is Sue Laimer and she has been missing since 1991 in the Sugarloaf NY area. I still can't believe we have never heard anyting more about her disappearance. So very sad.

[Mary Gottsch]

Correction Sue Laimer has been missing since 2001.

[missypartin]

i feel so very sad and sick to my stomach, every story is as sad as the last one i feel so useless i pray for the familys and closure god watch over our children.

[Allen]

Jamestown and Chauatuaqua County are very safe places to live. Crime, especially violent crime, is very low and response by law enforcement is fast. There are thousands of unsolved murders all over the US...is the whole country a bad place to live? Maybe we should pack our bags and move to Haiti, Mexico, Nigeria?

[andiescandies]

There are also 2 unsolved homosides in the Saratoga springs area as well as one from the 70s in Cobleskill. I am sure that some are related but the police haven't found a common denominator yet. With advances in forensic technology some can and will be solved if they are remembered

[Roy]

Does anyone know if there is a book out there based on a girl who was abducted (possibly murdered) from the Walmart parking lot in the Jamestown area in the early 1990's?

[Karen]

There were also female remains found in that area (Cattaraugus County, Allegany Reservoir) in September 2009 that, remarkably, do not match any of the listed mssing woman and remain unidentified!

[Docgonewoodman]

"amish"... go figure... I'n look at anything that has a hint of being off. Just call it a gut feeling.

[John]

If you have noticed some of the recent women abducted have had some type of relationship with a law enforcement officer is it so hard to believe that maybe there are corrupt police and that's why no suspect has been found cause they are covering for there fellow officer? I'm betting that the police had a big hand in Yolandas case and possibly others they might of had some dirt on a certain cop threatened to come clean and then was put to death by that officer(s)