Photographs courtesy Jasmine Collins, grid AdS
Case of the Month: Victoria Collins (May 17, 1970 – Aug 6, 1996). This case needs more media attention as Jasmine Collins still wonders what happened to her mom and why.
There isn’t much online about Victoria’s murder but that doesn’t mean that we cannot do anything at all. We can make sure that Victoria’s case remains in the spotlights until the day her post shows up in the right person’s news feed.
In August 1996, Victoria Collins was murdered in Pontiac, Michigan. She had been beaten, raped, and was left for dead. Victoria was a graduate from Pontiac Northern and an aspiring actress and dancer. However, she also had a history with drugs, prostitution, and prison time. This placed her in less safe circles with a range of possibilities and motives for her murder.
Her funeral was well visited by family and friends. This memory of a crowded service sustains her four children to this day. Their mother was loved.
Authorities believe that Victoria was beaten and raped before her throat was slashed. They believe this happened around 730 am on August 6, 1996. I have not been able to find why the authorities believe so. What I did find was that Victoria’ body was not found until August 13, 1996, a whole week later. Her remains were on the back stairs of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in the 200 block of Perry Street, Pontiac. I’d like to know whether the autopsy report supports a date of death around the 6th or the 13th.
Photograph courtesy Jasmine Collins
In 2012, “the family was hopeful that DNA evidence might be available but those leads have not been pursued”, Jasmine Collins said. So if I understand correctly the DNA of the rapist(s) has not been run through the usual national databases? Why? If you know that it was and have a link to a newspaper article about the results, please let me know so we can update this post.
- When exactly was Victoria last seen?
- Are Victoria’s clothes properly preserved?
- Can we examine her clothes with the M-Vac for touch DNA? Touch DNA could help determining where Victoria had been and whether she was attacked in the location where she died.
- Does the DNA found refer to one or more attackers?
If you have any information that can help Jasmine, Chelsea, Jamal, and Howard understand what happened to their mom please contact 1-800-SPEAK-UP, the anonymous tip line from Crime Stoppers. Crime Stoppers is offering a $2500 reward for the tip that leads to an arrest in Victoria’s case.
You can also contact the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard is cited as “If anyone has any information that would be of assistance to close this, we absolutely would love to hear it and, certainly, bring the perpetrator to justice and give the family some closure. There’s been no new information on the case as far as I’m aware of, nor the detectives in the charge of the case (are aware of).”
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In the series “Case of the Month” I highlight old cold cases. These posts are not an in-depth analysis and of course, sometimes more information can be found online and in newspaper archives. The goal of these posts is to get the cases back in the spotlights, to get people talking again, and if anything to make sure that we do not forget the victims. Just because their cases are cold does not mean that we can forget about them.
If you have any thoughts about this case then I encourage you to post them on your own social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc. Every time that we mention Victoria’s name online we enhance her digital footprint.
We must make sure that Victoria keeps her web presence if we ever wish to find answers in her case. You can help by linking to or sharing this post.
Thank you for remembering Victoria Collins with us.
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Resources
Daily Tribune
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office
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Photography was provided by Jasmine Collins and is used with permission. The only changes that I made were cropping, sharpening, and placing them in a grid.
