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Research website by Alice de Sturler

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You are here: Home / Forensics / Is this the car that killed Karen Caughlin?

Is this the car that killed Karen Caughlin?

April 25, 2012 By Alice

Karen CaughlinA 1970 Plymouth Road Runner, could this be the car that killed Karen Caughlin? The paper Sarnia This Week wants to know.

Several people have wondered about this. They remembered that they used to own a car just like that. So they called Crime Stoppers and waited. When nothing happened they went to the authorities. Nothing happened.

Courtesy Heather Wright
Courtesy Heather Wright

For some reason, police is not responding. As you can see in the pictures, the car was repainted but around the bolts the original paint is clearly visible. And there is more: the original headliner and console are preserved. Now that would be gems to have in a lab and test for forensic evidence!

But nothing is happening. Kathy, Karen Caughlin’s sister, wonders why. The people who reported this to police wonder why. Even the current car owner wants to know and wonders why nobody has contacted him yet.

On March 15, 1974, Karen went to school as usual. She was a ninth grade student at Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School, in Sarnia, Canada. We know that Karen made after-school plans. She went to a friend’s home. Later, Karen and her friend went to the Rose Garden roller rink in Point Edward around 7pm. Karen had been with that friend the afternoon until they left for the skating rink. They had also made tentative arrangements for Karen to stay overnight.

Karen Caughlin and her friend left the rink around 11pm and accepted a ride from two boys in a pick-up truck. Karen’s friend was dropped off at her home a short time later. Karen continued to drive around the area with these two boys and later picked up a third boy. The four teenagers continued to drive around the city, stopping at the A & W for a root beer, and visiting other friends (unidentified) until Karen was dropped off near her friend’s house (where she was supposed to spent the night) on Brock Street around 1am. on the 16th of March, 1974. This was the last time that we know that Karen was seen alive. DCC has a series of blog posts about this case. They are all here.

Why is there such a resistance to check up on this cold case? Just makes you wonder.

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Filed Under: Forensics, Unsolved Tagged With: Autopsy, Canada, Crime Scene, Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Karen Caughlin, Police, Sarnia

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  1. We are not there yet ... not all of us! Keep searching! says:
    December 16, 2014 at 11:24 am

    […] Caughlin: there are pieces of evidence that have not been tested. A car that might hold some answers is just sitting somewhere outside instead of in a lab. People were […]

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Author Notes

On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book.

My database has over 325 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

Defrosting Cold Cases is NOT an organization. It is my brainchild.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you still cannot find the answer there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler

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If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

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