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Post by Scumhunter on Aug 9, 2016 4:32:25 GMT -5
 (Above photo credit: Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers) From the AMW.com archives: Florida Widow, 86, Brutally MurderedOn July 14, 2006, 86-year-old Helen Regene McPherson went to dinner with her son and daughter-in-law, Doug and Wanda McPherson, as she did every Friday. Cops say Helen was a widow who lived alone in a safe neighborhood of Vero Beach, Fla. After dinner, her children stayed with her to watch TV until about 8:30 p.m., when Helen went to bed. Doug had no idea that it would be the last time he would spend with his mother. On Saturday afternoon, police say one of Helen's neighbors noticed that her newspaper was still in her driveway. She went to the door and saw immediately that something was wrong: The door's screen had been removed, and the glass pane was pried up. The neighbor called Doug, who rushed to check on his mother. But cops say around 5:45 p.m., Doug walked into a gruesome crime scene and called police. Cops say his mother was severely beaten and strangled in her bedroom. Cops: No Leads, And No SuspectsThe murder is still a mystery, and cops say they can't find a motive for the brutal crime: Helen was not sexually assaulted, and nothing was stolen from her home. Helen lived a quiet life at home, and left only occasionally to run her errands. She spent much of her adult life in Vero Beach, where she raised her three sons. About two weeks before her murder, Helen woke up around 2 a.m. when she heard a noise in her Florida room. She looked outside, but didn't see anything. Cops say she was frightened and spent the rest of the night in her sunroom, with little sleep. When her son, Doug, came by the next day to check it out, he found that a screen had been removed from one of the room's windows, but he never notified police. Cops say she had no enemies, and all of the known burglars and sex offenders in the area have been investigated. No one has come forward with information relating to the crime, aside from one neighbor who was walking her dog on that Friday night. She said she walked by at around 10:30 p.m. as usual, and noticed that Helen's kitchen light was off. Cops say she thought it was strange because the light was normally on. web.archive.org/web/20110608022544/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=64596#caseThoughts? Helen's case was aired on the June 4th, 2011 episode of America's Most Wanted, incidentally one of the last ever regularly scheduled episodes for when the show was on Fox.
Admin Note #1: Since this case has been featured on the Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers website, our advice for anyone with with information on Helen McPherson's murder would be contact them: www.tcwatch.org/
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form |
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Post by pakman on Aug 9, 2016 7:21:15 GMT -5
There's not really much to say about this case. AMW's profile was actually quite short - only about 4 minutes long - and didn't really go into too much detail besides the basic facts. I do remember after the episode aired I read an article where John Walsh was astonished that the show got zero tips on the case. I wasn't surprised though - at the time it was a five-year-old unsolved murder with no leads.
It seemed to me that this was one of those Florida cases that John took personally, being from his home state.
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Post by Scumhunter on Aug 9, 2016 7:34:45 GMT -5
This murder happened in Vero Beach, Florida, which is where John Walsh technically lives and has (for obvious reasons) an unlisted home, so it would make sense for his interest in the case.
P.S. Welcome back!
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Post by pakman on Aug 10, 2016 12:16:34 GMT -5
Thanks! Been lurking for a bit and have had a crazy hectic schedule lately (long story you don't want me to get into) but I hope to start contributing a bit more  |
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Post by Scumhunter on Sept 2, 2016 20:34:40 GMT -5
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Post by profiler24 on Dec 30, 2016 18:37:55 GMT -5
any updates or news ?
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Post by Scumhunter on May 3, 2018 1:03:18 GMT -5
Just wanted to update that there's been no news as far as I can tell since that September 2016 update. But the last time I bumped this case up we got an update, so I'm hoping this will bring similar luck and hopefully that luck is final justice for Helen McPherson. |
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Post by tennesseebob on May 13, 2018 20:44:14 GMT -5
Mrs. McPherson was the sweetest lady! I used to mow the grass for her and her husband when I was growing up in the 80's and early 90's, before her husband passed. My mother still lives two doors down from where this tragedy occurred, and I believe that my mother was the one who noticed the newspaper and the damage to the screen door. The neighborhood seems very safe, but it borders the highest crime area in Indian River county, a small section of Vero Beach called Gifford.
My brother (10 years younger than me) had taken over mowing her grass. The neighborhood there has not been the same since this incident. I left Florida altogether as a result of this and other contributing factors.
I have had the honor of meeting Mr. John Walsh and his wife on more than one occasion. They would frequent the grocery store where i worked after I got out of the Army. He would have at least two carts full of groceries and have one of us baggers help him load them into his vehicle. He would tell us baggers when we were finished loading, "Be careful young man. There are some really bad people out there." And he would generally tip us $20 or more. There was other conversation, of course, but those words have stuck with me for 12 years or better since I first met him.
The Sears Adam went missing from was often a family road trip for my family, as my dad was an electrician, and shopped for all of his tools there. This story of Adam, and then in 2006 of Mrs. McPherson, have hit home for a lot of south Floridians. As I said previously, my childhood neighborhood has never been the same.
I sincerely hope that her murderer is found and brought to justice, and the sheriff's department which is literally two miles away from where she was murdered, would quit trying to play politics and get this case closed!
Adam was not quite 6 years older than me. I wonder sometimes if he and I would have been friends if we had met...them to meet his dad all those years later, and for him to be in such a jovial mood when we spoke...John Walsh is an amazing man, far better than I. I don't know for sure what I would do if it were my son that had been found in that condition, but I know for fact that I would not follow the same path as Mr. Walsh and become an advocate.
Mr. Walsh, if you read this, thank you for your kindness so many times as I carried out your groceries from Ryanwood Plaza Publix.
Let's hope we find some justice for Mrs. McPherson soon, and you and I both know that Ottis Toole had a reservation with Satan upon his death.
I pray for all those families out there who have lost a loved one this way...that God brings you peace.
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Post by Scumhunter on May 14, 2018 4:17:53 GMT -5
Hey Tennesseebob, welcome to the forum!
Yeah it's just heartbreaking and unfortunately frightening as to who would want to murder someone that seemed like a sweet old lady. I'm also curious, why do you say the Sheriff's Office is playing politics? (If it's something that can be said publicly) That's an angle I've never heard before. It's always a weird juxtaposition for me as even though we're a fan site for AMW, The Hunt etc... on occasion people will send us tips anyway (even when we tell them anonymous crime stoppers lines) and I've had to contact Sheriff's Offices or other types of law enforcement on a few occasions. So it's a catch-22 situation for me as an admin of the site when it comes to criticizing any law enforcement agency, but if they are playing politics they should be called out and you obviously would know better than me what is going on in Indian River County. I was very hopeful after that article from two years ago and still no news since. All I can say is it is very disappointing if politics is what is preventing a breakthrough.
Also, as far as John Walsh, I am also very glad to hear from you and other people that he is very nice in real life! And that is so cool to have talked to him more than once! He liked a tweet of mine once and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Probably delusional on my part but sometimes I've thought to myself about "I wonder if I could ever host an AMW-type show like my hero, but he's a far nicer guy than me!" (I'd be the guy trying not to yell at the lady in front of me on the grocery line with the 500 coupons not appreciating how there's far bigger problems in life LOL). But yeah, after all he's been through he turned a negative which I can't even imagine into so much good for the world.
We've seen even colder cold cases get solved in the past few years, such as the Golden State Killer case, and Mrs. McPherson's case, being 12 years old, is still way too long but relatively speaking recent enough to be solvable compared to other cases, so hopefully the DNA breakthroughs, other types of breakthroughs in investigating crimes and if there is politics being played a reduction in that can help finally bring her killer to justice!
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Post by tennesseebob on May 19, 2018 6:47:03 GMT -5
I say the SO is playing politics because I witnessed it second hand. I have a brother on law and actually one of the young men who helped me wheel out Mr. Walsh' groceries several times, that are both deputies for IRC. They both were very vocal about voting for the new sheriff a couple years back, but that lost them their jobs when Deryl Loar won the election again. The pettiness of this guy...he made them almost literally beg for their jobs. The detectives here are great, so I still have hope...But Sheriff Loar is to tied up trying to be up the proverbial ass of his constituents/funders, it isn't pleasant to see. I sincerely hope for new evidence. I have been scouring the internet looking for crimes that have the same M.O. and relatively close to yhe same time period. This seems like it may have not have been the subjects first time. Nothing stolen, no sexual assault...there would be no other reason that I could think of. There are not many records accessible without having to pay money that I don't have to review...other cold case files, and maybe they have ine solved but haven't linked the subject to any other crimes/murders...
Fingers crossed I can find something...
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Post by Scumhunter on Oct 14, 2018 4:45:18 GMT -5
I've been thinking about Helen's case again and I'm starting to suspect it may have been a teenager that committed this crime- I've seen a couple of shows/read stories lately about other murders of elderly women and often this is exactly the case.
The fact that she was severely beaten and strangled indicates to me someone who was panicked and hence the overkilling of someone who theoretically should have been no threat to him. In other words, an inexperienced and young criminal.
Perhaps it was a teenage burglar, and he didn't steal anything because he was startled, killed Mrs. McPherson and ran away.
Also, nothing *appeared* to be stolen. This would probably lead the case in another angle, but often I've seen cases where it turns out the person who committed the crime took some kind of memento that one wouldn't even think of looking for. So I think the nothing stolen angle is important and *probably* true, but necessarily 100 percent fact. (Just my opinion).
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