Do you know who murdered A.B. Long in 1967? On July 16, 1967, the quiet routine of a Sunday in Paducah, Kentucky, was shattered by the discovery of a body at 1201 Madison Street. A.B. Long, a male business owner who operated a vending machine company from the premises, was found dead in his apartment located directly above the business. The grim discovery was made after two of his associates, concerned by his unexplained absence and lack of communication, contacted the authorities to request a welfare check.
Upon entering the residence, police officers found Long who had sustained three gunshot wounds, marking the end of his life in a violent homicide that would puzzle the community for decades.
The investigation into the crime scene revealed unsettling details that suggested the murder might have been premeditated or stemming from a personal conflict. Investigators located letters within the apartment that documented threats directed toward Long and his relatives, hinting at a troubled existence in the days leading up to his death. Despite these ominous clues and the physical evidence gathered at the scene, law enforcement struggled to identify a clear motive or a specific perpetrator. The murder added a layer of darkness to a series of unsettling events in the region, occurring shortly after the disappearance of one of his employees, Judy Whitby Greenup, which had already put the community on edge.
Over the years, the case of A.B. Long has remained a cold case in the files of the Paducah Police Department. Despite periodic reviews and the advent of modern forensic technologies that have prompted investigators to revisit the evidence, no arrests have ever been made in connection with his death. The specific identity of the person or persons responsible for pulling the trigger remains unknown, and no suspects were ever formally charged or brought to trial. The unresolved nature of the crime, combined with the threatening correspondence found at the scene, has left the murder as one of the city's most enduring mysteries, with the truth buried alongside the victim in the summer of 1967.
