A married couple is found deceased in their car\n
On a late summer day, the quiet town of Pittsford, Vermont, became the backdrop for a grim discovery that would linger in the community for decades to come. The story began to unfold on August 24, 1968, the last day that 32-year-old Thomas Whittemore and his 30-year-old wife, Elizabeth, were seen alive at their filling station in Rutland City. The couple had vanished, leaving behind a troubling scene: two days' worth of receipts and a bag of money were missing from the station, suggesting a robbery had taken place.
For days, their whereabouts remained a mystery, casting a shadow of concern over those who knew them. The search came to a somber end on September 4, 1968, when a couple taking a walk in the woods stumbled upon the Whittemores' car on the abandoned Fire Hill Road in Pittsford. Inside the vehicle, a tragic scene awaited. Thomas Whittemore was found in the passenger seat, while his wife was slumped against the right side of the car. An autopsy would later confirm the devastating truth: both had died from multiple gunshot wounds to the back of the head, inflicted by a. 22 caliber revolver that was never found. Their deaths were quickly classified as homicides, launching an investigation by the Vermont State Police that has continued for years.
Despite the initial theory of a robbery gone wrong, certain details puzzled investigators. While the filling station's receipts and a money bag were missing, the cash in Thomas's wallet and Elizabeth's purse had been left untouched, raising questions about the true motive behind the brutal killings. Another theory emerged that the robbery was merely a facade to cover up a targeted murder. The last known people to see the couple alive were two women from New Jersey who were at the filling station, but it is unclear if they were ever located by law enforcement.
To this day, the murders of Thomas and Elizabeth Whittemore remain unsolved, a cold case that continues to haunt the state of Vermont. No arrests have ever been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The case has been the subject of ongoing investigation by the Vermont State Police Major Crimes Unit, which has urged anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward in the hopes of finally bringing justice to the Whittemore family and closing a painful chapter in the town's history.
