dawn smith newspaper 1

 

https://newspaperarchive.com/north-adams-transcript-dec-16-1975-p-1/

'James Duncan North Adams a state pathologist ruled today that a Drury High school freshman whose body was found yesterday afternoon in a wooded area off Edgewood Avenue had been murdered. Or. George t. Katsis. Who per formed an autopsy on Dawn Starr Smith 14, of 33 Edgewood ave., said the girl died from a fractured Skull he said the victim had a number of other injuries but that the Skull fracture was considered the cause of death. He said he could not immediately pinpoint the time of death. The girl was identified last night by a sister Doris Moore det. It. Milo f. Brownjr. Said. Four Middle school slide nos taking a familiar shortcut from Edgewood Avenue to Wood Street found the body at about p. M. Yesterday one said. The girl was reported missing by her family a week ago yesterday. She was last seen by them about . That Day Gary i Lake who identified himself As her half brother said. However or. Blake said a Friend reported having seen the girl on Eagle Street the Day before her body was found. Brown said he saw no apparent links Between the death of miss Smith and the murder last year of Kim Lenoit another Drury High school student. Her murderer has nol been apprehended. State police will investigate the Smith death which is being treated As a homicide. They Are called in on any homicide police chief Kenneth v. Gamach said. We will assist them in anything they chief Gamache said. Other state policemen assigned to the Case from the District attorney s office in Pittsfield arc i. Roy Sibley and trooper John f. Flaherty. It. Brown and other officials would not speculate on a cause of death until the autopsy is completed. However it. Brown said it certainly docs look like foul play. He based his opinion on the place where the body was found its position and disturbed clothing. The body was found in a Blackberry Patch about 80 Yards Down a Hill from Edgewood Avenue and not much further from Massachusetts Avenue. The land is owned by George w. Beverly or. Of Wood St. The girl was found with a ski jacket and shirt pulled Over her head. Her other clothing appeared to he undisturbed. Bruises and cuts covered her Chest and Back. Medical examiner Edmond p. Larkin speculated the girl May have been killed elsewhere and dragged to where she was found. He said abrasions on her body were consistent with this supposition. Or. Larkin said a preliminary examination revealed no puncture wounds Needle Marks or severe Lack rations on he body. A stale police photographer devoted attention to a Gap at the top of the Muddy embankment off Edgewood Avenue. The immediate goal of the state police investigation is to determine who last saw her alive and to go Back up from i. Brown said. Asked if police have any leads in the suspected slaying it. Brown said thai s Between nothing i d want to talk about. Dawn Starr Smith we re going to follow our noses tonight. I Don t know what to be suspicious of at this he said. He nodded when asked if police were going to interview acquaintances of the dead girl last night. The body was found by four children who use a path through or. Beverly s land As a shortcut to a Friend s House on Wood Street one said. We were All Loo scared to look. I Don t really know about one said. All the children asked that their names not be used. The children went to find the older brother of one of them also a Middle school student. They brought him to the site they said. We thought it was a said it s one said. The body was first seen by Mark Moon 13, of 34 Leonard St. His brother Michael later called police to the scene. The children said they were taking a Shor Licul to the Home of Richard Koloc. Or. Beverly said he Lidan l been through the land part of which he uses for a Garden in several months. He confirmed that children frequent the area. The children arc always into mischief. I be had my troubles with said. M r. Blake said he never saw his half sister in the Field where she was found. He said he has looked for the missing girl every night after work since she disappeared. She s usually in by eight or nine even before he said. Another brother. Randy Smith said in a choked voice that he had searched for his sister every Day after he finished classes at Drury High school. He is a senior there. I be heard this happens in big cities. Around Here i would t believe or. Blake said. Or. Blake said he understood his half sister was last seen by her family at . Dec. 8 when she entered the House to get a soft drink. He was at work then he said. There were reports thai the girl was known to sleep in the Baptist Church entering before a janitor locked the building and leaving before he opened it in the morning. A sizable contingent of state and local police and a Cluster of children were first on the scene. Many stood in the drizzle for several hours while police took statements from witnesses photographed the dead girl and examined the scene. Her body was taken o san Soucie funeral Home. Children stood in excited knots exchanging whispered accounts of what hey had seen. Down the Hill the body was draped in a Blanket. One sneaker could be seen. She was wearing Brown Corduroy pants a Brown shirt a Blue ski jacket White socks and sneakers. The Only other object visible near the body was an empty quart soda bottle. A neighbor Robert Williams was the first logo Down and try to identify the body. We re just Good friends very Good friends of the Patricia Williams his wife said. Bob went Down my i Don t know they won t she said. Or. Blake said the girl was one of 10 children in the household of or. And mrs. Joseph c. Smith. Or. Smith returned from Maine in mid one child who said he knew the slain girl Well said. She was a pretty Good kid. She minded her business . '