'He saw something that's been in the same photo for 30 years'
EUGENE, Ore. -- Photos, police reports, 911 logs. Numerous detectives have reviewed the evidence in Karen Whiteside's 1978 murder countless times but the crime remains unsolved.
After 31 years, the detectives have confirmed a person of interest in Whiteside's murder--and they credit a KVAL News report for leading to the potential break in the case.
On March 21, 1978, Karen Whiteside was strangled while walking to her friends house. Janitors found the 16-year-old's body at Fairfield Elementary School the next morning.
Roth and Detective Mel Thompson took over the case in 2005, returning to the boxes of evidence whenever they had time.
"It's different because we were both born and raised in the area," said Roth. "We can both remember when this happened."
Solving a crime is like solving a puzzle, according to Thompson.
They flipped through the dusty binders, passed their eyes over crime scene photos, looking for that missing piece. They may have found what they were looking for.
When they first took on the case, Roth and Thompson reviewed the evidence independently. Both grew suspicious of one person--a male who knew Whiteside. Police interviewed him as part of the original investigation.
However, there wasn't much more to go on.
Then KVAL aired a story about Whiteside's unsolved murder in June, as part of a piece on EPD's search for cold case volunteers. Afterward, Roth and Thompson received tips confirming their suspicions.
"That generated some some information from the public that validated our suspicions of this person," said Roth.
After receiving that new information, Thompson returned to the Whiteside evidence. While reviewing the same police reports, personal artifacts and crime scene evidence, Thompson made a major discovery in a crime scene photo.
"He saw something that's been in the same photo for 30 years, that everyone's looked at," said Roth, adding it is fairly innocuous.
Police won't say what that item is or if it is the murder weapon, but will confirm the item was found at the crime scene.
Detectives have submitted it for DNA testing.
"We're hopeful we're going to come up with this person's DNA," said Roth. "Just because of what the item is and the theory Detective Thompson has on how it was used. You would expect to find the killer's DNA on it."
Roth won't disclose that theory, but says they will be able to arrest him if the killer's DNA is present. Roth says the man still lives in Oregon.
If you have additional information, call Detectives Jeff Roth at 682-5569 or Detective Mel Thompson at 682-5187. The detectives would also like to speak with anyone who police originally interviewed in 1978,
See the story about Whiteside's cold case.
See the original story about Whiteside's murder in 1978.
