Eight young girls were abducted and murdered in a horrifying killing rampage that terrorized America’s Midwest during the 1980s – with their bodies dumped in secluded locations as their killer roamed free.
asserted
killer → abduct → locations
Now, more than four decades later, a new DNA breakthrough could finally help crack one of the region’s most disturbing cold cases.
uncertain
breakthrough → help → cases
Debbie's disappearance from a crowded Ohio carnival ended in the discovery of her mutilated remains beside a riverbed.
asserted
disappearance → end → riverbed
Their brutal deaths left families shattered and investigators scrambling to establish whether the crimes were connected.
asserted
crimes → leave → ?
Now, fresh forensic testing has breathed new life into the investigation surrounding Debbie’s murder, raising hopes that modern DNA technology could finally expose the person responsible – and potentially uncover the truth behind other killings that have haunted northeast Ohio for generations.
uncertain
that → breathe → generations
Debbie vanished on June 25, 1983, while attending a carnival in Massillon, Ohio, with her mother, Linda Smith, and her teenage brother, David.
asserted
Debbie → vanish → mother
The 10-year-old had been riding the Tilt-A-Whirl with David when Linda briefly turned away to get drinks for her children.
asserted
Linda → rid → children
When she returned, Debbie was nowhere to be found.
asserted
Debbie → return → ?
David could not explain where his little sister had disappeared to, and a frantic search of the carnival grounds began.
uncertain
search → explain → grounds
The family then rushed home, hoping she might have returned on her own.
uncertain
she → rush → own
She had not.
asserted
She → have → ?
In the summer of 1983, Debbie Smith had just finished fifth grade at Bowers Elementary School.
asserted
Smith → finish → School
She was living at her grandparents house, William and Grace May, with her mother and her two brothers, David and Michael, who was 14.
uncertain
who → live → mother
She was at a carnival with her brother and mother when suddenly Debbie vanished
Investigators are now taking a second look at Robert Buell, who was a suspect in 1983.
asserted
who → vanish → 1983
Buell was executed in 2002 for kidnapping and strangling 11-year-old Krista Harrison in Marshallville in 1982.
asserted
Buell → execute → 1982
After his death, Buell who was convicted of raping two women, was also linked by DNA to the 1981 murder of 12-year-old Tina Harmon, who was last seen in Lodi
Four girls slain between 1981 and 1983 in Stark and Wayne counties .Tina Marie Harmon, 12, from Creston in October 1981.
asserted
who → convict → October
All had disappeared and were later found dead.
asserted
All → disappear → ?
Police launched a vast search involving around 200 officers, firefighters and volunteers.
asserted
Police → launch → officers
They questioned carnival workers, inspected amusement operators’ vehicles and combed nearby streets, buildings, railroad tracks and riverbanks.
asserted
They → question → streets
Linda was petrified because Debbie suffered from juvenile diabetes and required insulin injections twice daily.
asserted
Debbie → petrify → injections
For nine days, searchers scoured the area, desperately hoping to find the missing schoolgirl alive.
asserted
searchers → scour → schoolgirl
Then came the discovery that shattered the family’s hopes.
asserted
that → come → hopes
On August 6, 1983 a canoeist changing his clothes beside the Tuscarawas River stumbled upon badly decomposed human remains around 15 miles from Debbie’s home.
asserted
canoeist → change → home
Investigators compared hair recovered from the body with hair taken from Debbie’s comb, confirming a match.
asserted
Investigators → compare → match
Experts subsequently established her identity.
asserted
Experts → establish → identity
A Smithsonian expert determined that Debbie had suffered a stab wound through her second rib that may have pierced her heart.
uncertain
that → determine → heart
Her throat had been cut, and investigators also considered whether she had been strangled.
asserted
she → cut → ?
Pieces of wax were found beneath her remains, while a similar substance was discovered nearby.
asserted
substance → find → remains
Investigators suspected she may also have been sexually abused.
uncertain
she → suspect → ?
In August 1983, a canoeist found Debbie's body in a wooded area near the Tuscarawas River near Bolivar in Tuscarawas County.
asserted
canoeist → find → County
Investigators say someone stabbed her to death.
asserted
someone → say → death
Investigators searching Buell’s Franklin Township home in October 1983 seized five white candles, a carton of white candle wax and a carton of orange-white paraffin
Investigators also took two unopened cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon from Buell’s fridge.
asserted
Investigators → search → fridge
Beer cans were found near Debbie’s body.
asserted
cans → find → body
An affidavit described a canoe trip Buell took along the Tuscarawas River two weeks before Debbie’s disappearance.
asserted
Buell → describe → disappearance
Her body was found near a canoe livery
Buell was convicted in Krista’s abduction and murder and sentenced to death in 1984.
asserted
Buell → find → 1984
He wasn’t charged in Debbie or Tina’s slayings.
asserted
He → charge → slayings
A few months ago, Dadisman sent some of Debbie's clothing, along with other items found at the crime scene, to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, but DNA testing did not produce a match to Buell or anyone else
Whoever had taken Debbie had left her family with a nightmare that would endure for decades.
Her uncle, Terry May, remembered her as a ‘happy-go-lucky’ child who loved coloring, playing outside and visiting the park.
uncertain
who → send → park
'She was a wonderful little girl,' May added, 'Beautiful little girl, ambitious, active all the time.
uncertain
May → add → ?
'
But Debbie’s murder was not the only case haunting northeast Ohio.
asserted
murder → haunt → Ohio
Tina Harmon disappeared from Creston in October 1981, while Krista Harrison vanished from Marshallville in July 1982.
asserted
Harrison → disappear → July
…and 49 more, not listed.
The Aporia
