CRIME HUNTER: Cold case wheels of justice grind slowly - but they do grind
Article content
Elizabeth “Peggy” Beck was just 16-years-old when her life was so tragically snuffed out nearly 57 years ago.
On Aug. 18, 1963, the Denver Girl Scout counsellor was camping at the Flying G Ranch in the Pike National Forest. The popular senior at North Denver High School worked at the camp during the summer.
The night before, Peggy, other counsellors and their charges enjoyed a sing-a-long around a blazing fire in the warm summer night. That night, her roommate wasn’t feeling well and slept in the infirmary. Peggy went to bed around midnight.
It was their last night at camp and were slated to return to Denver the next day. But it was a night they would all remember.
The next morning, Peggy’s tent mate found her lifeless body.
As three adults and 24 campers slept, Peggy Beck was fighting for her life. No one heard a thing.
“It was first believed that the girl died of natural causes but (then-Jefferson County Coroner Ken) Raynie said that five finger marks on her throat were not apparent until later in the day,” according to a 1963 Associated Press story.
Police had a manhunt on their hands. A red ball in homicide parlance.
One man was questioned at a local bus station because of the scratches that plastered his face. Peggy had fought for her life and cops said she had scratched her killer.
Detectives questioned a lot of people that summer and fall, among them a cop killer who had spent 25 years in the slammer. A second man was also suspected before being eventually cleared.
The files yellowed, dust gathered on the evidence box containing details about the short life and tragic murder of Peggy Beck. Decades passed.
Now, almost 57 years later, cops have identified a suspect in her killing.
“In 2007, a John Doe DNA profile was created from evidence originally collected from the crime scene, and the profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS),” Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader said in a news release.
“In June of 2019, a more comprehensive profile was created and submitted for investigative genetic genealogy testing.”
Detectives were able to identify James Raymond Taylor as the suspected killer. At the time of the murder, he was 23. It isn’t clear if he was questioned then, although he lived in the area working as a TV repairman.
But the problem now for cops is this: Where is Taylor?
He was last seen in 1976 in Las Vegas and if he’s alive, would now be 80. His family helped cops identify him as the suspected killer and the source of the DNA and in April they issued a warrant for his arrest.
Peggy’s parents have both died since that heartbreaking day a lifetime ago, but her three younger sisters have kept her in their hearts and minds.
“Her three sisters are alive, and this is a painful time for them, to have this wound reopened,” Schrader told CBS Denver.
They said in a statement read by detectives: “She was loving and protective member of her family, and we will cherish the memories we have of her forever.”
PEACE FOR FAMILY OF MISSING BOY?
To detectives, the story appeared full of holes right from the start.
But gut feeling only goes so far. It’s facts and evidence that lead to convictions.
On Oct. 13, 1986, two-year-old Corey Edkin was reported missing from his home in New Columbia, PA. His mother, Debbie Mowery, told cops that she had put the toddler to bed before driving to a nearby store.
Thirty minutes later when she returned, the boy was gone.
At the time, there were other children in the home along with Mowery’s roommate. Investigators don’t believe the little boy just walked away although an extensive search was conducted and the nearby Susquehanna Valley River was dragged.
That was nearly 34 years ago and now cops say they have made “significant” advances in the case, thanks to new forensic technology — and a few guilty consciences. They are “confident” there will be an arrest.
Pennsylvania State Police investigator Brian Watkins said: “The individuals who caused this tragedy will be brought to justice.”
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.