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Police Continue Search for Killer of Little Joanne Lynn

From the Mount Morris Enterprise, 4 October 1950

A year has passed since the slaying of 11-year old Joanne Lynn, but the shadow of the tragedy still hangs over the little community of Hemlock where she lived. On the farms and in the general store, in churches and in the tiny post office - wherever persons meet - the talk often as not is of the brutal pistol murder of the brown-haired schoolgirl.

And why not? Asks Mrs. Hugh Drain. Her husband runs the local hardware store and drives the new school bus.

“We can’t forget it,” she says, “any more than we can understand it. How could it happen so quickly? How could the murderer pick up a girl on our road without being noticed by someone?”

LIMA REMEMBERS: Even up in Lima, eight miles to the north, the slaying remains a chief topic of conversation. Police Chief James E. Kane will tell you that “we hear it every day - you can’t go to a firemen’s meeting or any other meeting, without winding up in talk about the Lynn case.”

But Joanne’s death is still, in the words of one investigator, “a murder almost without facts.” The search for the slayer goes on unceasingly. “Possibly 300 suspects” have been quizzed by Livingston County deputies, according to Sheriff H. Donald Mc Coll. And State Police have quizzed another 250 or so persons, reports Lt. William M. Stevenson.

The hunt has reached from Massachusetts to California. An appeal by Mc Coll for clues through the so-called “secret witness” letter writing plan has brought about 65 pieces of mail. All are being checked.

Still, authorities apparently are certain of only three facts about the murderer:

It was a man, for Joanne was criminally assaulted.

He had a gun - a 9 mm pistol. Two bullets and two shells from such a gun were found at the murder scene.

He had a car or truck.

The tragedy had its beginning on a pleasant Monday morning, a year ago this week.

LEFT HOME AT 8 a.m.: Joanne left home about 8 a.m. to walk to Hemlock Central School, about three-quarters of a mile to the north along busy Route 15A. She was alone; a girl friend Joanne called for had already gone. At 8:05, Joanne was passing the home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Smith. Mrs. Smith had her hands full at the time with her children (she has eight in Hemlock School) but she paused to wave to Joanne.

“Good morning, Mrs. Smith,” Joanne called. “It’s a nice morning, isn’t it?” And Mrs. Smith replied, “Yes, it is.” Then she went inside, and told her 7-year old son, Eddie, that he could catch up with Joanne if he hurried. But when Eddie reached the road, there was no one in sight. Joanne had vanished. Investigators believe she either accepted a ride or was forced into a car.

At school that day, there was little concern over Joanne’s absence. Her brother told Joanne’s teacher, “I guess she got sick and went back home.”

A search was begun late that afternoon. In the following five days, State Police, Sheriff’s Deputies, volunteers and National Guardsmen tramped through woods and across farms in the area. Bloodhounds were used, too.

CLOTHING MISSING: Late Saturday, Joanne’s body was found by 14 year old Norma Marsden as she was hunting butternuts in a grove near her father’s property 1 3/4 miles south of Lima and seven miles north of Joanne’s home.

Joanne’s red sweater and underclothing were missing. They never have been found.

Even the time of her death remains a mystery. A pathologist’s report indicated Joanne might have been alive as late as Wednesday, two days after her disappearance. And Paul Concannon, on whose farm the body was found, says he and a neighbor heard three shots about 4 a.m. Wednesday. But authorities also are investigating the possibility that Joanne died as early as 9 a.m. Monday.

State Police said the bullets were fired from a foreign-made 9 mm pistol. Probably, they said, it was either a German Walther or a German Luger - but it might have been one of 15 or 20 other makes, also.

The shells were made by a firm named Peters. Only one outlet for Peters 9 mm ammunition has been found in the Rochester area. That store had sold two boxes of the bullets in two years, and both have been accounted for.

FAMILY MOVED: Since the slaying, Joanne’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Lynn, and her brother and two sisters have moved from the house of memories in Hemlock.

They now are living in a large white farmhouse on East Lake Road, south of Lakeville, where Lynn is engaged in dairy farming. On the huge fireplace mantle are pictures of Joanne and a reprint of a Rochester Times-Union column of a year ago bye Howard Hosmer, entitled, “It’s Too Late to Say We’re Sorry, Joanne.”

This week Mrs. Lynn put aside her ironing for a few moments to talk about Joanne. “I still think it was someone right in the area that did it,” she said. “I know Reggie doesn’t think that, but I do.” “I hate to think it might be someone we know. But whoever it is, I hope they catch him before he can hurt someone else’s girl.”

REWARD OFFERED: Rewards totaling $3,500 have been posted in the case. The Livingston County Board of Supervisors has pledged $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the slayer. Residents of Hemlock, Lima, Livonia, Avon and other nearby communities have pledged another $2,000.

In addition, a $250 reward has been offered for the gun and another $250 award for Joanne’s missing clothing.

Most of the money was pledged on sheets posted in stores of the communities. One of the first signers was Joanne’s dad, promising a large contribution.

As Lynn left the store, one of the other signers turned to a friend and said, “Heck, Reggie Lynn doesn’t have to pledge anything - he’s already given his girl!”