A man is discovered murdered behind the Forest Hills Sotre On a spring day in Winooski, Vermont, the life of Jan Rhein, a 29-year-old Caucasian male, came to an abrupt and violent end. It was April 19, 1980, when his body was discovered in the parking area behind the former Forest Hills Factory Outlet on West Canal Street. An individual who was in the vicinity at around noon made the grim discovery.
An investigation into his death quickly determined that Rhein had been the victim of a homicide. The cause of his death was a gunshot wound.
In the 44 years that have passed since his killing, the case has remained unsolved, leaving a lingering mystery in the community. Law enforcement officials have periodically revisited the case, but the passage of time has not yielded the answers needed to close it.
Over the years, investigators have pursued various leads, and at one point, there was a person of interest in the homicide. However, no arrests have ever been made in connection with Jan Rhein's death. The case is now considered a cold case, one of several that Vermont State Police continue to seek new information on. Despite the decades that have gone by, the hope remains that someone will come forward with the crucial piece of evidence that will finally bring resolution to this long-standing and tragic mystery.
