Episode Summary
After nearly 50 years as East Haven, Connecticut’s Jane Doe, police have finally identified the murder victim found behind Bradlees Department Store as 18-year-old Patricia Newsom. Now, they need your help to catch her killer – or killers.
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For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode HERE.
Episode Info
If you have any information about Patricia Newsom, call East Haven police at 203-468-3824.
Join the FindPatriciaNewsom Facebook group for updates.
Patricia “Trisha” Meleady Newsom in the most recent photo available.
Photo Source; enhanced by audiochuck staff
Patricia in an undated photo.
Photo Source; enhanced by audiochuck staff
Patricia when she was younger.
Photo Source; enhanced by audiochuck staff
From left: Maryann, Patricia and one of their brothers.
Photo Source; enhanced by audiochuck staff
Trisha often wore a ring similar to this one, her aunt gave her from Cecilian Academy, a shuttered Catholic school in Philadelphia. Police never found it and it’s possible the killer kept it as a souvenir.
Photo Source: Courtesy, East Haven PD
A composite sketch of Trisha when she was East Haven Jane Doe.
The drainage ditch behind Bradlees Department Store in East Haven, CT in August 1975.
Photo Source: Courtesy, East Haven PD
The area where Trisha’s body was found behind Bradlees Department Store.
Photo Source: Courtesy, East Haven PD
An old map of the State Street Cemetery in Hamden, CT.
Photo Source: Courtesy, East Haven PD
Trisha’s sister, Maryann Newsom Collette, initially thought Trisha might be the Jane Doe known as “Lady of the Dunes” based on this composite sketch. But in October of 2022, Lady of the Dunes was identified as Ruth Marie Terry of Tennessee.
East Haven PD Capt. Joseph Murgo speaks to media during a press conference about Trisha on April 17th, 2023, while Trisha’s sister, Maryann Newsom Collette, looks on.
On Trisha’s birthday, June 20th, 2023, locals who helped with her case in East Haven held a memorial service for her. Attendees included Pastor Mark Pillitere, East Haven PD Captains Joseph Murgo and David Emerman, retired New Haven PD Sgt. Tony Griego, Amy White and New Haven Director of Public Safety Communications Joseph F. Vitale Jr.
Photo Source: Courtesy, Maryann Newsom Collette
Patricia’s grave is now decorated with a plaque created by local high school students.
Photo Source: Courtesy, Maryann Newsom Collette
Check out the following links for guides and tip sheets on what to do when a loved one goes missing:
- Missing Persons Primer – The Center for Hope
- Missing Persons Guide – Missing Persons Advocacy Network
- Finding a Missing Loved One – National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Missing Persons Checklists 1 & 2 – IHaveVanished.com
- Missing-Child, Emergency-Response, Quick-Reference Guide for Families
- Missing Child Clearinghouses (every state)
- Resources for Families of Missing American Indian and Alaska Native Adults
- When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide
- Cuando su Niño está desaparecido: Una guía de supervivencia familiar
- Social Media Guidebook for Families of Missing and Runaway Children
- What to do if your child is missing – Peas In Their Pods
- Missing Persons Checklist – Colorado Bureau of Investigation
- Someone I Know is Missing – Kansas Bureau of Investigation
- Virginia Missing Person Family Resource Guide
- Missing people: A guide for family members and service providers (Australia)
- What to do when someone goes missing (UK)
- What if the Police Won’t Investigate my Case?
Other organizations
Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Nina Schutzman
- Daily Advocate (8-9-1975) via genealogybank.com
- Body found in river seen as mob execution victim
- People Magazine (10-21-1985) by Kristin McMurran via People Archives
- Amelia Cave’s Dream of a New Beginning Ends in Her Murder by a Would-Be Transsexual
- Hartford Courant (6-18-1986) by Virginia D. Sederis via Newspapers.com
- Inmate Linked To ’82 Slaying In New Haven
- New Haven Register (5-9-1994) by Allan Drury via Newslibrary.com
- Police look to Maine for new clues in old slaying
- New Haven Register (4-29-2023) by Meghan Friedmann
- After decades in an unmarked grave, East Haven homicide victim Patricia Newsom can finally be put to rest
- NBC Connecticut (6-9-2022) by Angela Fortuna
- East Haven Police Exhume Wrong Body in Connection to 1975 Cold Case Murder
- Federal court records
- State v. Glenner
- State v. Schroff