A couple are found deceased in their camper in a pull off Iola Hipp, a Caucasian female, and her husband James were retirees from Lutz, Florida, enjoying a month-long road trip through the Eastern United States and Canada in their camper with their dogs in tow. On Friday, September 12, 1969, their travels took them to a wooded pull-off area in Adamant, a village in the town of Calais, Vermont. It was there, in the tranquility of the Vermont countryside, that their peaceful journey was violently interrupted.
Sometime in the afternoon, an
intruder entered their camper while they were having lunch and brutally attacked the couple. A Vermont State Trooper later discovered their bodies inside the camper, the scene a testament to incredible violence. An autopsy determined that Iola Hipp died instantly from extensive brain lacerations and depressed skull fractures, the result of a severe crushing force by a blunt instrument. There was no evidence of sexual assault. Her husband, James, met a similarly violent end, dying from multiple blunt force impacts to his head. Investigators later divulged they believed the murder weapon was a ball-peen hammer.
Despite the passage of many years, the double homicide of Iola and James Hipp remains unsolved, and no arrests have ever been made. Vermont State Police continue to investigate the cold case. In the immediate aftermath, a witness reported seeing the Hipps' car and camper being driven north around 3:00 PM that day. The witness had pulled over to offer assistance, believing the vehicle was stuck. The couple's vehicle was later found abandoned on Route 2. Over the years, some residents have noted similarities between this case and the unsolved 1958 murder of Doris Baker in nearby Barre, who was also beaten to death with a hammer. However, no official suspect has ever been named in the murder of the vacationing couple.
