On January 15, 1973, six-year-old Tracy Buck, along with her mother Gloria Buck and her brother Scott Buck, were brutally murdered in their home on Arthur Avenue in Harrison Township, Dayton, Ohio. The horrific crime was discovered by a neighbor who entered the Buck household and found the entire family slain. Gloria Buck, 26, was found to have been beaten, stabbed, and shot in the head. She had clearly fought to protect her children, as her hands were covered with defensive wounds. Both Tracy and her five-year-old brother Scott were also stabbed to death, and the scene was described as extremely violent, shocking the community (Ohio Attorney General, Dayton Daily News).
The investigation into the Buck family murders faced several challenges and delays. A subsequent crime committed only 12 days later shared similarities with the Buck case. On January 25, Linda Dearth, aged 13, was found murdered after being raped and shot in her family home. Investigators later discovered a connection between the two crime scenes, linking the same firearm to both cases. This firearm, a Ruger .22 caliber weapon, was believed to have been stolen from the Buck residence, providing a critical piece of evidence that linked the tragic murders of both families.
Despite these leads, the investigation was unable to produce a clear suspect for years. At one point, a teenage babysitter who had worked for the Buck family, Patty Brown, was briefly charged but later exonerated when ballistics proved the connection between the two separate incidents, and she was in custody during one of the crimes. The mystery surrounding the murders of Tracy Buck and her family continues to haunt both law enforcement and the community, with appeals still being made for any information that could help solve the case (Ohio Attorney General, Dayton Daily News, Uncovered).
The Buck family's murders, along with the subsequent Dearth homicide, are considered some of the most unsettling unsolved crimes in the Dayton area. The cold case remains open, with investigators periodically revisiting the evidence and seeking new information that might bring resolution to the grieving family members who continue to search for answers and justice for the victims.
