In the fall of 2015, the quiet town of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, became the final scene in a grim story that began weeks earlier in Manchester, New Hampshire. On October 6, 2015, 36-year-old Stephen Andrade was found deceased in a room at the Motel 6. His death, later determined to be a suicide, marked a pivotal point in the search for his missing roommate, 57-year-old Sue Hutchinson.
The mystery began to unfold when Hutchinson was reported missing after not being seen since September
20, 2015. Family members grew concerned, and their fears escalated when they detected a strange odor emanating from the Manchester apartment she shared with Andrade, who himself had not been seen since September 21st. Their attempts to piece together the timeline of events led investigators to the Tewksbury motel where Andrade had taken his own life.
Following the discovery of Andrade's body, the investigation intensified at the New Hampshire apartment. On October 11, detectives made a grisly discovery. Concealed within a crawl space behind a false wall in a closet, they found an adult female's body, which they believed to be that of the missing Sue Hutchinson.
Authorities concluded that Andrade was the primary and only suspect in Hutchinson's death. Investigators believe that sometime after her disappearance, Andrade fled to Tewksbury, where he ultimately ended his own life. Statements made by Andrade shortly before his death led authorities to surmise that he was responsible for killing his roommate and hiding her body before he fled. No other suspects were identified, and with Andrade deceased, the case culminated in a murder-suicide investigation, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and a tragic end for two lives.
