A 17 year old is gunned down in his car In the pre-dawn hours of November 24, 1974, the quiet of a Manchester, New Hampshire lovers' lane was shattered by sudden violence. Seventeen-year-old David Michael Longfellow, a senior at Manchester Central High School, was parked with his girlfriend on a dead-end stretch of Hermit Road, a wooded area overlooking Massabesic Lake. The young couple was enjoying a moment alone after an evening of babysitting for his parents when a red convertible passed their car.
The vehicle turned around and, as it passed by again, three loud bangs broke the night's stillness. What his girlfriend initially mistook for firecrackers were, in fact, shotgun blasts. Three deer slugs tore through the driver's side of the sedan, striking David in the neck and shoulder. His companion was unharmed but witnessed the horrific event.
David Longfellow, a blond-haired, fun-loving teenager described by his father as a "real clown" whom everybody liked, died in his car that cold autumn morning. He was one of seven children and worked at his father's gas and service station. By all accounts, he was a good kid who had never been in any serious trouble. The seemingly random and brutal nature of his murder sent shockwaves through the Manchester community, a city where homicides were not commonplace. In the wake of the killing, local businesses displayed posters seeking information, and his father, George Longfellow, offered a reward for any details that might lead to an arrest.
An intensive investigation was launched by both Manchester and New Hampshire State Police. The crime scene on Hermit Road was meticulously searched, and divers even scoured the nearby lake, but the murder weapon, believed to be a 12-gauge shotgun, was never recovered. Over the years, investigators would interview over 900 people and examine more than 100 vehicles. Despite their exhaustive efforts, which included administering numerous polygraph tests and even eliciting a false confession, no one has ever been charged in connection with David Longfellow's death.
Decades later, the case remains the oldest unsolved homicide on the Manchester Police Department's website, a haunting reminder of a young life cut short. David's family has lived with the enduring pain and uncertainty of his unsolved murder. His father spent years searching for the red convertible his son's girlfriend saw, a constant and personal quest for answers. The New Hampshire Department of Justice's Cold Case Unit continues to list the case as open, holding out hope that someday, someone will come forward with the information needed to finally bring justice for David Longfellow.
