Updated: 1:54 PM PST, January 26, 2021
The two bodies had multiple gunshot wounds when they were discovered off of Interstate 95 in South Carolina by a truck driver on August 9, 1976.
A 1976 John and Jane Doe cold case was reopened after the victims were finally identified, with thanks going in part to a South Carolina man who helped investigators in the identification of a missing couple, according to CBS local affiliate WLTX.
Pamela Mae Buckley, 25, of Minnesota, and James Paul Freund, 30, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, were reported missing by their families, according to The Associated Press. The bodies of the pair were discovered off of Interstate 95 in South Carolina by a truck driver on August 9, 1976, with multiple gunshot wounds, but remained unidentified until recently.
SC man helps investigators ID victims in 1976 cold case killings A truck driver found the bodies of Pamela Mae Buckley and James Paul Freund just off Interstate 95 and Old St. John Church Road in Sumter County on Aug. 9, 1976. Both had been reported missing in 1975, the year before their deaths. (Source: Sumter County Sheriff s Office via WLTX) By Patrick Phillips | January 24, 2021 at 8:36 PM EST - Updated January 25 at 7:08 AM
SUMTER, S.C. (WLTX/CBS News) - A Clemson graduate who followed a 44-year-old murder case for years helped investigators finally find the resources to identify the two victims.
Last week, Sumter County investigators released the victims’ identities in a case investigators admit has “mystified” them for all that time.
DDP Helps ID Two Victims 44 Years Later forensicmag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forensicmag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After having been nameless for more than 40 years, it took just a few hours for the DNA Doe Project to identify James Paul Freund.
âIt was a quick solve,â said Jennifer Randolph, co-leader on the team that was able to identify the Lancaster native as the Sumter Jock Doe.
Volunteer genealogists with DDP were able to find two of Freund’s second cousins “within a matter of hours” after running DNA extracted from his teeth through public databases built by people who use DNA testing kits like 23andMe, Ancestry.com or MyHeritage.
âThat was a sign that this was probably going to be a pretty easy case to solve,â Randolph said.
Man, woman found shot to death in SC identified after 44 years; woman was Colorado Springs resident
Sumter County Sheriffâs Office (South Carolina)
By: The Associated Press , Stephanie Butzer
Posted at 3:12 PM, Jan 22, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-22 17:12:40-05
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) â A man and a woman found shot to death just off Interstate 95 in South Carolina have been identified by DNA after more than 44 years.
The victims are likely 30-year-old James Paul Freund of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and 25-year-old Pamela Mae Buckley of Colorado Springs, Colorado, according to authorities. Their relationship is unknown. The bodies were exhumed in 2007 to take samples of the DNA, which were sent to the DNA Doe Project for testing. In July, samples were also sent to California and Alabama for DNA extraction and comparison.