Victims, Families, And Friends Call Attention To NH Missing Person Cold Cases, Murders

CONCORD, NH — A coalition created to assist in bringing more transparency to unsolved murders and missing person cold cases in the Granite State held another rally Tuesday to bring attention to investigations that remain unsolved.

About 60 people attended the second New Hampshire Coalition of Families of the Missing and Murdered event at the Statehouse. Last year’s event was held outside the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, which has since been torn down. The event attempted to shed more light on the lack of resolution to more than 130 investigations. While many high-profile investigations have caught the media’s attention, others have languished for decades.

Many of the speakers praised investigators while also offered criticism. Scott Chase, the leader of the cold case unit, Myles Matteson, a prosecutor, and Michael Garrity, the attorney general's director of communications, were all in attendance.

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Family members of Trish Haynes, who had been missing for months before being found dead inside a washing machine at Grant’s Pond in Grafton in 2018, were in attendance, as was Jane Boroski, a victim — and survivor of the Connecticut River Valley serial killer, who was stabbed dozens of times while pregnant. She was 22 at the time. Her daughter was also in attendance.

“We have never seen justice,” she said. “Our case remains unsolved.”

Boroski was grateful to be part of the coalition, to the friends she made, and to learn to advocate for herself and others. She was concerned, however, while praising members of the attorney general’s office for being there, that she had heard from another woman who might have a tip about her case, and no one at the department would speak with her. Instead, she was given the runaround, Boroski said. When she said she wanted to speak to someone personally about the tip, she was told to submit it online.

“That is unacceptable,” she said. “We do not work for the department of justice; they work for us. It’s their job to prosecute these monsters and solve these cases. Our job is to be the voice for the voiceless and make sure these cases are never forgotten.”

Several other speakers raised concerns about the lack of customer service relationships, for lack of a better term, with the department.

The brother of Roberta “Bobbie” Dionne Miller, who was killed in Gilford in October 2010, Ken Dionne, was taken aback when receiving a form letter from Chase, someone who he had already met with.

“It was like they never met me,” he said. “They didn’t know who I was even though I sat right there in their office talking about my sister’s case and all your other cases.”

Joe Robert, the brother of Denise Robert of Bedford, who was killed in the North End of Manchester, also spoke. He said, at first, they were very active with the case until the police asked them to stand down. He was remorseful he listened to them and backed off, saying people were giving the family leads.

“To this day,” he said, “I feel very bad about that. I don’t feel good about it. I know they did their very best with what they had. But I wish we had continued. That’s my frustration. My brothers and sisters … we are still kicking ourselves about that.”

Robert said there was a $50,000 reward connected to the case. He said police told him they were looking for more evidence from the public.

“Hopefully, someone comes forward,” he said, “hopefully, something comes down the pike.”

Family members of Maura Murray, missing for two decades, were also in attendance. Signs noted rejected right-to-know requests made by her family attempting to get information out of investigators. The family of David Oldham, shot and killed in Columbia in 2015, were also at the event and spoke.

After the event, John Formella issued a lengthy statement explaining everything the department did to solve the cases. He said the department was “resolutely committed to achieving justice for victims.” He called staffers “dedicated” and said much of their work was not visible to the public or the families of victims to preserve the integrity of the investigations.

“Cold cases represent some of the most difficult to investigate and prosecute, often with significant evidentiary challenges, combined with the complications that accompany the passage of time,” he said. “Even with those challenges, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of answers to bring closure and deliver justice. In that pursuit, we continue to build our resources with the addition of experienced investigators and prosecutors, fostering additional capacity and competencies with partner agencies and enhanced forensic capabilities at our state lab. These investments underscore our commitment to resolving cases and providing closure to victims.”

Formella said everyone in the department understood and acknowledged the frustration of families waiting for answers. He said it was unfortunate some people interpreted the realities of managing such complex cases negatively.

“The department strives to balance the public’s right to information with the need to protect investigations, preserve the ability to seek justice through prosecution, and respect the privacy of victims and their families,” he said. “That is why we are always listening, regularly meet and correspond, and disclose information to advance these cases without undermining the integrity of our mission.”

At the same time, the department had attracted new leadership and actively worked on unresolved cases. While not getting into specifics, Formella said the department was involved in a recent search in Newport and assisted Massachusetts investigators with cases in Barrington and Pelham. Investigators worked with the FBI to generate a new age progression photo of Murray, solved the Laura Kempton murder case out of Portsmouth from 1981, made an arrest in the 2016 Conway murder of David Bruce Goodwin, identified the body found in Bedford, Katherine Ann Alston, after four decades, and the remains of Benjamin Adams, missing more than three decades, in Canaan.

Tips about missing persons or cold case investigations can be submitted to the Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit website at doj.nh.gov/criminal/cold-case/tip-form.htm.”

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