(If you had commented on any of the pages of the original site (Justice for Carrie Moss), please know that we have saved and responded to the comments and tips from that site)
If you look Carrie up on the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit's Victim List, you will find her tucked between Eva Morse and Maura Murray where her status is listed as "unsolved homicide." It seems hard to believe that the murder of a child in a small, rural town like New Boston still remains unsolved more than three decades after her disappearance. There are likely a number of factors that account for this but one thing seems clear- thirty years ago when adolescents went missing, they were often dismissed as "runaways." Parents struggled to get authorities to take the missing reports seriously, sometimes having to file over and over when their child remained missing. Here is Carrie's story. It is our hope that someone who has information about what happened out in those woods will come forward.
Carrie's Childhood
Carrie was born on March 13th, 1975 to parents Warren and Sally Moss in New Boston, NH. She was their last child and was welcomed by older siblings Leonard, Wendy, Annette, and Sherry.
CarrieWhen Carrie was two years old, her family moved into the home on Parker Road in New Boston that her father had grown up in. This is where Carrie Lived until she went missing. Her father worked at Hitchiner's Manufacturing Company in Milford for decades and was also a volunteer member of the New Boston Fire Department. Her mother worked at home raising her children and canning and freezing vegetables from the family's large garden.
Carrie and her father picking potatoes
Carrie loved being outdoors and her mother remembers the many little bouquets of wildflowers that she picked- violets, mayflowers, and ladyslippers.
Sisters Sherry and Carrie Carrie in first gradeCarrie also loved animals and raised chickens and bunnies as well as taking riding lessons at Betsy Moody's stable. Carrie's early school days were spent at New Boston Central School and then she attended Goffstown Junior High School for grades seven and eight.
Like many young teenaagers, Carrie was in a hurry to grow up. Restless and independent, bored by the pace of life in rural New Boston, she spent a lot of time running around with older kids.
Celebrating Grandpa Moss's 80th birthday in April 1989
In June 1989, Carrie was arrested for possession of marijuana. This resulted in a court date for July 26th. On the day before court, she rode her bike to Goffstown to go swimming with friends. When she didn't come home by morning, her parents looked all over for her and ended up going to court and explaining to the judge that she hadn't come home the night before. Because she had been placed on house arrest once before after getting in some trouble, her parents assumed she had ditched the court date and didn't want to get put on house arrest again. The court issued a warrant for her arrest. She was fourteen years old and had just completed eighth grade.
The family kept expecting Carrie to show up and as the days passed, they all looked for her. Sherry- the sister closest in age to Carrie and whose circle of friends overlapped with Carrie's - would take their mother out looking for her- to Elm Street in Manchester, to Lowell, MA- chasing rumors and often thinking they spotted her when they caught sight of a blond girl with big hair. There were a lot of girls with big hair back then.
School rolled around that fall and Carrie's classmates started high school but she was nowhere to be found. Because she was initially viewed as a runaway, it wasn't until late fall that a missing person's report was filed. Twice over the next two years, the family had to refile a report because Carrie's name was removed from the missing person's list.
When the family wanted to hire a private investigator, the police discouraged them from doing so because they said that it could interfere with the investigation. Many of Carrie's friends left the area in the months after her disappearance, causing her family to wonder what they may have known. When Christmas approached, Carrie's mother kept saying she was sure that Carrie would come home because she loved Christmas. Mrs. Moss bought gifts for her but it was a heart-breaking holiday when she didn't show up.
When Sonya Moore (also 14 and also missing from New Hampshire in 1989) was found murdered in Dunbarton in 1990, it was the first time that some of the family got the feeling that something terrible may have happened to Carrie. But they never stopped looking and chasing leads. Her parents consulted a psychic, went to Laconia Bike Weekend looking for her, hung posters, searched a campsite near the swimming hole on the river, and sent up a lot of prayers that Carrie was safe and being cared for.
Almost two years after Carrie disappeared, the Moss family heard on the news that a body had been found by a ten year old boy in the woods about two miles from their home. It was found in a small clearing near a campsite where teenagers sometimes partied. Mrs. Moss didn't think for one minute that it was Carrie because she was sure she had seen her in Lowell on one of the trips she and Sherry had made to Massachusetts to look for her.
The next day, the New Boston Police came to the Moss house and said they were sorry but that the remains were those of a young teenage girl with hair close in color to Carrie's and that they appeared to have been out there for about two years. Carrie's mother said that there was no way that it was Carrie, even after speaking with the police out near the site. Channel 9 showed up at the house and even though they were asked to leave, they approached neighbors and confronted Carrie's parents when they stepped outside to feed their animals. It was sadly ironic as this was the same news station that earlier had refused to provide coverage of Carrie's disappearance, saying they couldn't air stories on missing teenagers.
Mr. and Mrs. Moss borrowed a camper and took off for a few weeks to process all of this. Dental records and a broken leg bone would soon confirm that the remains were Carrie's and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. Carrie was cremated and buried in the family plot in New Boston.
Plea from Carrie's family:
Carrie would have turned 47 years old in March of 2022. It's hard to believe she's been gone this long and that we still don't know what happened. Did something go wrong with a boyfriend or at a party? Did she accept a ride from the wrong stranger? If you know anything about her disappearance or death, or even the events of her life in the summer of 1989, it would mean a lot to our family to hear from you. You can contact Carrie's sister Annette at carriemossNH@gmail.com or at 603-486-4753. Or if you would like to send an anonymous tip, you can mail it to Annette Brendle at 59 Whipplewill Rd, New Boston, NH 03070.
Sister Annette Brendle, mother Sally Moss, brother Leonard Moss, sister Wendy Plourde
PHOTO FROM 2015 UNION LEADER ARTICLE
Below is a list of people that Carrie made in one of her notebooks. We are not sure how close to the time of her disappearance that it was written or what the check marks mean that are beside some of the names. If your name appears here and you haven't already spoken with the Moss family about this list, would you be willing to contact Carrie's sister Annette at the phone number or email address provided above, or by posting a comment below this post?
If you would like to be added to a private Facebook group about Carrie (230+ members), please friend and/or message Ronda and request to be added to the group Carrie Moss: Summer of 1989. This group was formed by siblings Scott Maxwell and Ronda Randall (aka Oak Hill Research). Scott and I are from New Boston, NH but did not learn of Carrie's case until 2011 when we began researching the Bear Brook cold case.
Articles re. Carrie's Case (full articles below)
New Boston Teen Still Missing
[New Hampshire Union Leader October 21, 1989]
(PHOTO) A New Boston family is asking people to help them find their teenage daughter. Carrie Moss, 14, has been missing since July 25, 1989. "I'm hoping they'll give us some information," her mother, Sally Moss, of Parker Road, said last night. "She went to Goffstown to go swimming with some friends," she said. "That's the last we heard of her."
State and local police are investigating the incident, which they are treating as a missing person case. Police records describe Carrie as 5-foot-2, 120 pounds, with fair complexion, light-brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing stone-washed jeans, a jean jacket and white, high-top sneakers.
"She could be (a runaway)," her mother said. "But we figured if she'd run away, the kids would have spotted her." Carrie's friends have told the family they haven't seen her, Sally Moss said. "She had no reason to run away," her sister, 18-year-old Sherry Moss, said.
Carrie Moss was a student at Goffstown High School. In addition to speaking with her friends and police, the family has taken to putting up posters in the area, in their search for Carrie. "We've put up 42 more posters this evening," Sherry said last night. Sherry and her mother sometimes drive local streets at night, looking for some sign of the girl. "It's been quite a long time," sister Sherry said. "Kids her age sometimes take off a couple of days and go drinking, experimenting. But this is ridiculous."
Carrie is in their prayers, her mother said. "Every night, all the time." The Moss family asks that anyone with any information about Carrie call her parents, Warren and Sally Moss, at 497-3564, or the state police.
Bones ID'd As Those of Missing Teen [Boston Herald August 2, 1991]
NEW BOSTON, N.H. -- A skeleton found in woods last month has been identified as a neighborhood teenager last seen on her bicycle in the town two years ago. Authorities identified the skeleton Wednesday as that of Carrie Moss, last seen in July, 1989, when she was 14. Her mother did not report her missing until two months later, and the reporting delay is one of the questions facing investigators. The other main question, and one that might remain unanswered because the remains were so deteriorated is: How did the girl die?
Assistant Attorney General Michael Ramsdell said the remains were found in woods about a half-mile from the girl's home. Asked why there was a two-month delay in reporting her missing, Ramsdell said: "That's what we are trying to figure out." Moss's identification was made late Wednesday through analysis of X-rays and dental records and items found with the remains, authorities said.
Police Chief James McLaughlin, who took over after the disappearance, said it's a complex case. "She was leaving to go swimming and left on her bicycle," he said. "I have no real understanding of why she was not reported missing until September." There are theories, he said, one of them being that her parents simply thought the girl would return home.
-- AP
Skeleton is identified as missing N.H. girl
[Boston Globe Aug 2, 1991 Author: Ford, Royal]
CONCORD, N.H. --A skeleton found in the woods in New Boston has been identified as that of Carrie Moss, who disappeared from her home two years ago. She would have turned 16 in March of this year. Roger M. Fossum, the state's chief medical examiner, confirmed the identity yesterday, but said that even though he has a nearly complete skeleton, he cannot tell how the teen-ager died.
Moss was last seen leaving her parents' home on July 25, 1989, according to Kevin O'Brien of the major crimes unit of the State Police. She said she was going to visit friends in Goffstown, though O'Brien said that the site where her skeleton was found -- about a mile through the woods from her parents' New Boston home-- is not on any route to Goffstown. "It's isolated and remote," said O'Brien, the lead investigator in the case. He said that foul play has not been ruled out in the death, but that police will now have to "go back to where we were on the day she disappeared and reconstruct events from there."
"We're back at square one," added James McLaughlin, the New Boston police chief. "Now, at least, we probably have an idea of what questions to ask" in re-interviewing people who might have information on the disappearance, O'Brien said. O'Brien said the condition of the skeleton indicates that Carrie Moss died close to the time she was reported missing. He said those who have reported spotting her in the meantime "were probably mistaken."
Carrie's mother did not report the girl missing until two months after she disappeared, and the reporting delay is one of the questions investigators are trying to unravel. Asked why there was a two-month delay in reporting her missing, Assistant Attorney General Michael Ramsdell said: "That's what we are trying to figure out." The girl's skeleton was found July 24 by a 10-year-old boy playing in the woods. McLaughlin said the mood in the small town west of Manchester is "the typical scenario -- 'Nothing like that ever happens here' -- but unfortunately it did."
"Things like this do happen in both large and small communities," McLaughlin said, noting that New Boston has changed with the rest of the suburban sprawl of southern New Hampshire. "People come and they bring their baggage in a changing population," he said. He said Carrie Moss was not known to have had any problems likely to have led her into trouble. "Nothing more than your average 14-year-old going on 30," he said.
Had He Killed Before? Authorities are Investigating Possible Connection Between Vandebogart and Dead Teenager
[NH Union Leader Aug 11, 1991 Author: Tammy Plyler]
LONDONDERRY - Police are looking for a possible link between Daniel Vandebogart and a girl whose skeletal remains were recently found in New Boston, but so far have come up with nothing, according to Senior Assistant Attorney general Michael Ramsdell. Ramsdell said he heard reports that Vandebogart dated the girl, Carrie Moss, 14, but so far they have been unconfirmed- just rumors. At the suggestion of an unidentified tipster, however, Ramsdell said police are looking for a possible link to Vandebogart in Moss' disappearance.
Moss' skeletal remains were found two miles from her home on July 24, two years after she disappeared. Because her body was so badly decomposed, there is no way of telling how she died or whether she was the victim of foul play, Ramsdell said. "We don't know whether they did date. We got information from an individual that perhaps Vandebogart should be looked at in connection with her (Moss') disappearance, Ramsdell said.
The investigative lead came as no surprise to Londonderry Police Chief Richard J. Bannon, who believes Vandebogart may have been a potential serial offender. Bannon said he believes there is a good possibility he committed other murders between the time he was released from prison in Montana in April 1988 and the time he was arrested for the murder of Kimberly Goss in September 1989. "I think it's entirely possible, I really do. (The Manchester victim) and Kimberly Goss, those are the reported ones," Bannon said. "It's a control thing, it has nothing to do with sex. Once they get that taste of that power... if he hadn't been caught he'd have kept on going."
"I'm not an expert. But the education and training I have leads me to believe Mr. Vandebogart could be a serial offender. he has four known offenses- all violent ... and doesn't appear to have a bit of remorse. That would indicate there are some serious problems with the gentleman." Vandebogart, 28, formerly of 158 Bridge St., Manchester, was convicted last month of first-degree murder in connection with the September 1989 rape and strangulation death of Kimberly Goss, 29, of Londonderry. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole.
Bannon said the manner in which the evidence was found at the scene of the crime- apparently carefully placed and thought out- indicated from the start of the Goss investigation that police were dealing with something and someone out of the ordinary. "This looked like a very clever, very shrewd individual placing things out there," Bannon said. "It was 'catch me if you can.' I started to think 'this guy's fooling with us, challenging us.' It was obvious we were dealing with someone who had done this before."
Goss' body was found about 450 yards behind her Londonderry house, buried under forest vegetation. Vandebogart's brother, Tony Vandebogart, said he provided a map to state police showing areas where he and Daniel worked for their uncle as laborers in the Goffstown, Weare and Dunbarton areas the summer Carrie Moss disappeared.
He told police about side roads in that area he was sure his brother knew about, but beside his personal feelings that his brother could have killed more than once, Tony Vandebogart said he had no concrete evidence to link his brother to Moss. Carrie Moss was on her way to Goffstown when she left home that last time. "I love him. He's my brother, but I don't like what he's done," said Tony Vandebogart, who manages a llama farm in Vermont.
It's only one of several leads on Moss' disappearance and death that police are pursuing. State Police Lt. John Barthelmes said police are also looking into a tip received last week that Moss may have traveled in the same social circle as Sonya Moore, the 14-year-old Penacook girl whose murdered body was found in Stark Pond in Dunbarton in April 1990, about five months after she disappeared. Vandebogart was already in jail when Moore disappeared in early November 1989.
After Kimberly Goss was reported missing by her husband, it took searchers three days to find her body behind her home, but police found evidence early on and later used it at trial. A knife, sneakers, and coat were all found quickly, the jacket concealed under some leaves. "He made it sem-hard to find the jacket, easy to find the sneakers and knife, and hard to find the body," Bannon said about the Goss case. "The body was quite a distance from the other things. It would indicate he spent a lot of time there."
Bannon said an intelligence test would probably reveal Vandebogart is very smart but he said Vandebogart outsmarted himself when he placed the body in a cool damp place. Semen found in Goss would not have deteriorated as quickly under those conditions as it would have if the body had been left in a warm, bright place.
The semen yielded DNA evidence introduced at trial. Bannon said under other conditions, it would have been unlikely police could have collected valuable seminal evidence. Bannon said some of the things he saw at the scene of the crime and Vandebogart's subsequent behavior were consistent with his knowledge of serial offenders.
According to court testimony:
-Vandebogart worked for his uncle most of the summer of 1989, starting out in the morning at a Bodwell Road garage just minutes from Kimberly Goss' Old Derry Road home. The company built houses in Dunbarton, Goffstown, Weare and Northfield.
-Vandebogart probably took Goss from her house at knifepoint. The knife was later discarded.
-Vandebogart tied Goss' wrists and ankles with pantyhose and shoelaces, and probably carried her to the woods behind her house. Police believe he gagged her with the white athletic sock he later strangled her with, left her for a few minutes, and moved his car from her home to another location on the street.
-Vandebogart forcibly sexually assaulted Goss, removing her lower clothing. Vandebogart used considerable force in strangling Goss. Vandebogart took a great deal of time to carefully conceal Goss' body.
-Vandebogart probably placed items of evidence at various locations around the crime scene. Police also found a riding crop, Goss' skirt and underwear, and a jar of vaseline nearby. Vandebogart's undoing was the sighting of his 1982 black Firebird near Goss' home and recording of the license plate by neighbor Carl Currier. Bannon credited Currier with being the key to the investigation's success. Upon checking the owner of the car and the owner's criminal record, police uncovered a pattern of crime consistent with the assault on Goss.
-They found Vandebogart had been twice convicted of rape, once in Virginia and once in Montana. One victim was a male and one a female, but there were certain consistencies. Both victims had been bound with bootlaces. Both had been gagged. Both had been held at knifepoint, but the knife was not used to cut. The rapes took place in a secluded outdoor area. Both had been bound with their hands behind their back. Both had been gagged with white athletic socks. Clothing was removed only from the lower body.
-Vandebogart was himself a victim of sexual abuse by his parents. His mother, a tall, thin woman with reddish-blonde hair testified at his trial that she had sex with him as a young boy. The Virginia rape victim and Kimberly Goss had strawberry blonde hair as did Carrie Moss.
In addition to the two rape convictions, police discovered that at the time of Goss' murder, Vandebogart was awaiting trial on a charge he grabbed a Manchester woman by the throat after she spurned his sexual advances. She escaped and pressed charges. Vandebogart was later convicted.
Sexual homicides are killings involving power, control, sexuality and aggressive brutality, according to the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Perpetrators of sexual homicides can be classified into two patterns, according to Vernon Geberth, a former New York City police officer.
According to his book, Practical Homicide Investigation, research shows there are organized, psychopathic offenders and disorganized, psychotic offenders. While the disorganized offender's crimes are motiveless and bizarre, the organized psychopathic personality is methodical and cunning, his crimes carefully planned and carried out.
According to Geberth, he will: Commit a crime out of his area of residency or work. Likely own a car in good condition, be very mobile and travel more miles than the average person. Select a victim of the "right" type- someone he can control through manipulation or strength. Usually pick strangers with common traits.
Vandebogart has been entered into the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, Bannon said.
14-year-old murder gets another look
[New Hampshire Union Leader Jan 6, 2005 Author: Scott Dolan (Staff reporter Nancy West contributed to this report)]
NEW BOSTON-- State police yesterday said recent attempts by detectives to contact people around town who once knew Carrie Moss when the 14-year-old New Boston girl disappeared in 1989 are "not unusual" for an unsolved homicide.
Moss' skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area of New Boston on July 24, 1991, a day before the second anniversary of her disappearance. A cause of death has never been determined, but police said in the past they believe she was murdered, according to Union Leader archives.
"It doesn't mean there's any new information," state police Sgt. Mark Mudgett, assistant commander of the Major Crimes Unit, said of the recent inquiries. Mudgett said the Major Crimes Unit has many open cold cases, which detectives continually try to investigate. Renewed activity does not necessarily mean a lead or break in the case, he said.
"I can't comment specifically on Carrie Moss," he said. "It's not unusual. We're doing this for a bunch of unsolved homicides we are working on."
Moss, who had a history of running away, had left home on the day of her disappearance on July 25, 1989, to visit friends in Goffstown. The case was complicated during the two years following her disappearance by dozens of purported sightings reported to police in places such as Lowell, Mass., and as far away as New York City. She was not reported missing until Sept. 15, 1989, according to Union Leader stories from the time.
A 10-year-old boy found Moss' remains in a wooded area off Riverdale Road, about two miles from her home on Parker Road, and authorities identified them as hers through X-rays and dental records.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin, chief of his office's homicide unit, said homicide investigators working a cold case often "cover the same ground again" and re-interview people who knew the victim. "In a case like this, you have to go back and get as much information as possible," Strelzin said.
Police in August 1991 looked at a possible link between Moss and a Manchester man, Daniel Vandebogart, who was arrested in September 1989 for another killing, that of 29-year-old Kimberly Goss of Londonderry, according to Union Leader archives.
To date, no one has been charged with Moss' death.
Victims more than case files
[Manchester Union Leader November 8, 2010]
These are the six unsolved homicide investigations that are currently the most active with the Cold Case Unit. Anyone with information about them or any of the 125 unsolved homicides dating back to 1968 is asked to call 271-3636, 271-2663 or email coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov with tips.
Sonya Moore, 14 disappeared in 1989/1990. Dunbarton: Sonya Moore was last seen Nov. 2, 1989, when she left home at 36 Summer St., Penacook. her body was found on April 7, 1990, in Stark Pond in Dunbarton. Sonya's body had been in the water for a significant period of time and was discovered when the ice melted. The medical examiner concluded that her death was result of homicidal violence of an unspecified type.
Carrie Moss, 14, disappeared in 1989/1991. New Boston: Carrie Moss went missing on July 25, 1989, after she had gone to visit friends in Goffstown. Carrie's skeletal remains were discovered in a wooded area of New Boston on July 18, 1991. A cause of death was never determined because of decomposition; however, the case has been treated as a homicide.
Thomas Conrad, 54, murdered in 2005. North Haverhill: On Sept. 28, 2005, Thomas Conrad died from multiple gunshot wounds outside his home at 170 Lilly Pond Road in Pike (North Haverhill).
David Longfellow, 17, murdered in 1974. Manchester: On Nov. 24, 1974 at 3 a.m. Manchester police were called to Hermit Road in regards to a shooting victim. Upon arrival, they found a male subject gunned down while he was seated inside his car. A girl was also present at the time of the shooting but was not hurt. The male victim was identified as David Longfellow.
Robert "Flippy" Heckbert, 30, murdered in 1988. Manchester: On the morning of March 9, 1988, at 8 a.m., Manchester police discovered the body of Robert "Flippy" Heckbert, floating face down in the Merrimack River in Manchester. An autopsy revealed that Robert died from a combination of a severe beating to the head and drowning.
Catherine Millican, 26, murdered in 1978. New London: On Oct. 24, 1978, Catherine Millican was photographing birds at the Chandler Brook Wetland preserve in New London when she was stabbed more than 20 times. Her body was found just yards from where she had been taking photographs of the birds.
26 years later, the pain of not knowing the answers remains
[Manchester Union Leader, July 25, 2015 Author: Cassidy Swanson]
NEW BOSTON: It's been 26 years to the day since Carrie Moss was last seen alive. It was July 1989 and Carrie was 14. With a black, one-piece bathing suit on underneath her stonewashed jeans, white T-shirt and white boots, Carrie hopped on her bike to meet friends in Goffstown to go swimming. It was the last time her family saw her alive.
Nearly two years later, her skeletal remains were found in a clearing just a few miles from her home. "Carrie would've been 40," said Annette Brendle, one of Carrie's three older sisters, in an interview at her New Boston home. "She would've been married with kids. Her life was taken from her."
Her death was ruled a homicide, but remains a cold case. Now the Moss family has re-upped its efforts to find out what happened to their beloved daughter and sister.
Troubling times
Annette, who was 10 years older than Carrie, describes her little sister as "a young girl who grew up too fast." "She just ...seemed to get in with the wrong group of people," she said. "She had her friends and liked to party." "You'd send her to school, (and) she'd leave school with friends," said Sally Moss, Carrie's mother. "Stuff like that."
At the time she went missing, Carrie was dating an 18-year-old man from Goffstown. She had been arrested for possession of marijuana, landing her under house arrest. But after run-ins with the law, she seemed to be straightening out, her family said. She loved horseback riding and enjoyed working as a counselor at a local camp.
On the day she disappeared, Sally had cautioned her daughter not to go, as she had a court date the next day. But she went anyway. In the weeks following Carrie's disappearance, people began to speculate about what had happened.
"We got a call from one kid- we don't know who it was- who said she was dead beside the road," Sally said. The caller, who never identified himself, hung up and never contacted the family again.
Other rumors were circulating. Annette said she'd heard that some men driving a pickup truck were spotted chasing her on her bicycle; others claimed they'd seen Carrie on the highway, trying to hitchhike to Lowell, Mass.; Carrie's boyfriend called and said she was working as a prostitute in New Your City and didn't want to be found.
The family never lost hope that Carrie was alive, following all leads and searching throughout New England. When police told the family in July 1991 that remains of a young girl had been found by a 10-year-old boy and they were likely Carrie's, her mother didn't believe it, convinced she had seen Carrie on a search through Lowell.
It wasn't until dental records and a broken leg bone confirmed it was Carrie that the family had to face the truth. The family later searched the area and found clothes that belonged to Carrie less than 50 yards from where her skeleton was found.
Media attention
"It was impossible to get away from (the media)," Sally said. News vans and reporters also came up from Boston. Sally and her late husband, Warren, left town for a time, and would eventually cremate and bury Carrie's remains in a family plot in New Boston.
"I remember being upset because we couldn't get any (media) interested when she was missing," said Mike Brendle, Annette's husband. "Then all of a sudden, everyone wanted to know about it."
Renewed interest
In recent months, the family began working with the cold case unit of the New Hampshire Attorney General's office to find answers. Senior Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Agati said Carrie's case is unique in that all of the possible witnesses were very young, between the ages of 12 and 22.
"It's always interesting and challenging to interview anybody within that age group," Agati said. "Sometimes, you get answers where it seems like the witness just wasn't really focused. You have a group of witnesses (and) some were throwing out anything they could think of, and other ones, we think, were definitely holding back on information that they had."
Agati said he is certain there are people still in the area who hold information about what happened. "We don't see that in every one of our cases," he said. "That can be the crack that could lead this case to break wide open."
"What we see is that, in some cases, people just say, 'Well, I was never asked,'" said Joelle Wiggin, a cold case victim's advocate for the attorney general.
"Some people are just trying to shut it out and say, 'That was a part of my life when I was a different person,'" Agati added. "They try not to remember that time."
Efforts continue
The Moss family has also started a blog, "Justice for Carrie Moss," to get out their story, and hopefully, find clues. The site was designed with the help of Ronda Maxwell Randall, an elementary school classmate of Annette's who also has a blog dedicated to the case of the remains of a woman and three girls who are believed to have been her children, found in Allenstown between 1985 and 2000.
"The thing that really sticks out is how few of Carrie's friends contacted the Moss family," Maxwell Randall said. She scanned and posted a handwritten list to the blog of more than 60 acquaintances of Carrie's who the family believes could have information.
"I think there probably are a number of people who know what happened to her," she said. "There hasn't really been a forum for that. My hope is that the blog becomes a place where people see Carrie as more than one description, like 'troubled runaway,' but they really see her and her family and her life, and get a better sense of who she was, and maybe will reach out to the family."
A family's plea
The family has its suspicions about who may have been involved in Carrie's disappearance- all men. Annette says she will still approach people in public who she thinks were involved with Carrie's death. "You want closure, but you also want someone to pay the price for taking your little sister's life," she said.
The family says it's difficult knowing there are people who likely know what happened to Carrie- but at this point, they just want answers. "Someone out there knows something," said Leonard Moss, Carrie's only brother. "It's funny how her friends all scattered at the same time."
"Any bit of information, even if they don't think that it's important, they should come forward with (what they know)," said Wendy Plourde, another of Carrie's older sisters. "It's never too late."
Anyone with information about the disappearance and/or death of Carrie Moss should contact the New Hampshire State Police at 271-3575; the New Hampshire Attorney General, 271-3658; the New Boston Police Department, 487-2433; or the Manchester or Concord Regional Crimeline, 624-4040 or 226-3100. Tips can also be given directly to Annette Brendle by calling 486-4753, emailing carriemossnh@gmail.com or mailing her at 59 Whipplewill Road, New Boston NH 03070.
I lived in New Boston for about 4 years about 10 years ago . That white abandoned house next to the Elementary School with the old cars in front of it has a strange man living in it.
ReplyDeleteAny local knows who he is if he's still alive . But anyway I used to walk my dogs around town and would occasionally see this man walking around and he would just start randomly talking .
He once brought up a story about how there used to be a dam in the town center and that he used to like watching the young girls swim naked under the bridge near the town center.
I found this a bit creepy and odd for a stranger to just start rambling about watching little girls swim topless . This made me think of Carrie , he just seemed creepy to me .
Thank you for that info.
Delete