On a summer day in 1968, thirteen-year-old Deborah Lee Spickler, known affectionately as Debbie, was visiting her aunt and uncle in Vernon, Connecticut, a break from her home in Mystic. On July 24th, she and her cousin decided to go for a swim at the pool in Henry Park. The two girls were walking together from Foxhill Drive toward the swimming pool when they realized they had forgotten their towels. Deborah’s cousin went to retrieve them, leaving Deborah to wait. When she returned, Deborah was nowhere to be found. She had vanished without a trace. That same day, a birthday card from Deborah arrived for her mother, in which she wrote that she was being good and helping her aunt. She was last seen wearing a white sleeveless shirt, homemade dark green shorts with a polka-dot pattern and no pockets, and white low-top sneakers. Deborah had brown hair and brown eyes, a pockmark on her face, and a chipped tooth.
The initial investigation into Deborah's disappearance was met with few leads. In the years that followed her disappearance, two other young girls, Janice Pockett and Lisa White, also went missing from the same general area, prompting concerns of a possible connection between the cases. These three cases, which occurred between 1968 and 1974, came to be known collectively as the 'Vernon-Tolland Three'. In 2014, a Tolland County Cold Case Squad was established, comprised of state and local police investigators, to re-examine the disappearances of Deborah, Janice, and Lisa. This task force was created to apply modern technological advances to the decades-old evidence and to explore any potential links between the cases. Despite these efforts, Deborah's case has remained unsolved for over five decades.
Deborah Spickler's disappearance is a perplexing case that has left a lasting impact on her family and the community. She was a young girl enjoying a summer visit with relatives when her life took an unknown turn in a public park. The circumstances of her vanishing in broad daylight, simply waiting for her cousin to return with towels, are chilling. The subsequent disappearances of other young girls in the area have led to speculation and numerous investigative efforts over the years, including the formation of a dedicated cold case squad. A substantial reward has been offered for any information that could lead to an arrest and conviction in her case. Decades later, with no witnesses to her disappearance and a scarcity of evidence, what happened to Deborah Lee Spickler after her cousin walked away remains a painful and unanswered question.
Last Seen: Jul 24, 1968
