Betsy Aardsma Connection

Hi all,

I'm looking for information on the Betsy Aardsma case, and it appears there is at least some connection or interest by Ray Gricar in this case.

I'd love it if anyone with any knowledge of the case would contact me, especially Cinderella, at my posted email.

I'm researching this and I'm about ready to start making some big moves to try to stir up new leads in the case.

Thanks,

Derek

[J. J. in Phila]

There is a good article on it here:

http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/...d_aardsma.html

An assistant English professor, Robert Durgy, was a suspect. He resigned soon afterward, and died in a mysterious automobile accident several weeks afterward.

In the book 20/20 Vision, an account loosely based on the Aardsma case, Ms. West made the murderer a professor at Shawnee University.

JJ,

Thanks for the reply! I've read that article and talked with the author. He is in his late 20's and is still investigating on his own into the case.

Most of the folks I have talked to feel that Durgy was effectively ruled out as a suspect, just an odd coincidence. For one thing, the timeline is off, as Durgy was on his way home with his family to Ann Arbor at the time Aardsma was killed.

Oddly enough, the author of that article seems very frightened of either a lawsuit or some other unnamed consequence and has not been too open. He said he feels he is about 33% sure of who he suspects did it, but he's been very evasive about talking about it, despite repeated assurances of confidentiality on my part.

I'm not sure what the story is there. I plan on getting to the bottom of this if I can, consequences be damned.

Derek

[J. J. in Phila]

Originally posted by littlehorn [*]

Most of the folks I have talked to feel that Durgy was effectively ruled out as a suspect, just an odd coincidence. For one thing, the timeline is off, as Durgy was on his way home with his family to Ann Arbor at the time Aardsma was killed.

Bit off topic, but ever heard that.

Oddly enough, the author of that article seems very frightened of either a lawsuit or some other unnamed consequence and has not been too open. He said he feels he is about 33% sure of who he suspects did it, but he's been very evasive about talking about it, despite repeated assurances of confidentiality on my part.

The only others that I've heard mentioned were:

1. Ted Bundy (I don't think he's too much of a threat). http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive...89dnews-02.asp

2. A hypothetical "drifter" who came in from the then newly opened I-80. I read the story in the Collegian more than a decade after the crime. I was quite young when it happened and don't remember it; that newspaper story was the first time I remember hearing about it.

JJ,

You mention off-topic, and I must say, I was afraid I might have posted this in the wrong thread. Is there a better place I should be having this conversation? I am a newcomer here and don't want to upset anyone.

I heard the Bundy rumor too, but everything I've read about Bundy leads me to believe it wasn't him. Not his style, as it were.

The hypothetical drifter from I-80 is an interesting one that I had not heard. That would make it nearly impossible to ever solve the case.

It seems very calculated though for it to have been someone just rolling in off the highway.

Regards,

Derek

[J. J. in Phila]

I'm not exactly sure how to start a new subheading thingy.

I'm not too sure if this is a place to be discussing a 38 year old murder case.

As for its relationship to the RFG case:

1. The murder took place in RFG's jurisdiction, but 16 years roughly to him becoming DA and 11 years before he lived there.

2. RFG helped out West with the research for 20/20 Vision.

3. RFG discussed the book with the then PSP Trooper (corporal, I think) who was then head of the case, after it was published. The trooper is deceased.

4. Exceptionally few people knew #2 and #3. That didn't come out until the first story had run. West wasn't close to RFG and hadn't communicate him since before July 1990.

For myself, that's not much, but it is interesting.

If you're asking if the same person that killed Aardsma killed RFG, I'd doubt it. If RFG was murdered there is a quite dissimilar MO, and that it would be exceptionally hard for a killer to have found out about the links between 20/20 Vision and RFG.

[J. J. in Phila]

Originally posted by grammybear
The issue of the drifter sounds like a little out there. How would this drifter know exactly where to find this girl? That would be too coincidental.

How awful for her poor family to have gone through this for the last 30 years. [/*]

It's closer to 40 years (39 in November, actually). She was engaged at the time; her fiancé had an alibi, BTW.

I don't really subscribe to any theory, but it might have been a random act, hence the drifter. It was a theory that was floated at one point.

I've actually been in the stacks at Pattee Library, and it would have easily possible for a drifter to enter, in those days. It might not be quite so easy now.

There were two other missing persons in the area over the 25 years prior to RFG's vanishing. A bartender outside of Bellefonte in the late 1980's or early 1990's and Penn State student Cindy Song in 2000. No trace has yet to be found of either.

One problem with the random theory is that Aardsma was wearing a very nice red dress when she was murdered. Basically, on the afternoon of the murder, when she was scheduled later to go out to see a movie with friends, she was dressed for church.

It makes you wonder if she was meeting or had plans to meet someone she knew.

There was another oddity of the case, that being that less than two months later, a man similar in description tried to force his way into the 415 S. Atherton St. apartment of another coed who was home at the time, but she fought him off. He was never caught either. Seems like the possible beginning of a spree, and its aborted end when he realized he wasn't as slick as he thought.

If you look at the police sketches of both men they are strikingly similar.

I can't seem to find out who is in charge of the Aardsma case now. I am trying to interest the Vidocq society, but they will only take case recommendations from next of kin or with the blessing of the law enforcement in charge of the case. Betsy's parents are dead, and I can't get ahold of the person in charge of the case.

Derek

[Chump#7]

415 S. Atherton St

Wow! I lived at that address for 5 years and never knew that. Wow...

Yes, that happened in January 1970.

[Chump#7]

Originally posted by littlehorn [*]Yes, that happened in January 1970. [/*]

...Heh, I wasn't born yet. The building is commonly called 'Atherton House', 3 floors (A, *, & C), 8 units a floor, front and rear entrance/stairwells, with a parking garage underneath.

[J. J. in Phila]

I'm not sure if she was dressed for church. November 28, 1969 was a Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. She was wearing what was described as her "Sunday-best clothes."

She did have a sister, according to the article.

[sherrijean981]

Does anyone have a link to the photo's submitted to the paper of the one man?

Here's a link to some composite drawings.

http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/...omposites.html

[J. J. in Phila]

Originally posted by Nitt [*]Here's a link to some composite drawings.

http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/...omposites.html [/*]

Very interesting. It could have been the killer or a witness.

I'm still wondering about Professor Durgy. He actually left on Thanksgiving Day and I'm wondering if he had all his stuff out of Bellefonte on that day.

[Cloudbuster]

Originally posted by grammybear [*]I had never heard of this case before. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. My only thought right now is that it had to have been someone knwn to Betsy because of the close contact when she was killed. It could be someone she knew who had anger issues that took it out on Betsy for what ever reason. The issue of the drifter sounds like a little out there. How would this drifter know exactly where to find this girl? That would be too coincidental. Also you would think that in the past 30 years there would have been other murders along the way with the same profile.

This sounds to me like it was very personal.

How awful for her poor family to have gone through this for the last 30 years. [/*]

Do you know if Betsy had a interest in writing a dossier or manuscript on anyone? Im asking because in a article I read her mom said Betsy had many interests. Just seems to me a new avenue road to look at. Also is the Library open to the public or just students?

[Cloudbuster]

Here are some links I found, sorry if any are repeats.
http://poeticallychallanged.blogspot...wsing-led.html
http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/...d_aardsma.html
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...ient=firefox-a
http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/...sma_ghost.html
http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/...omposites.html
http://146.186.194.36/archive/2005/0...-letter-04.asp

It is eeery how she died. Seems like she was into something that she was researching and that someone was looking at it as something they didn't want out. It feels like to me the person was not your average student but yet someone who fitted in with the others. I usually run on what things feel like.

[J. J. in Phila]

It might be well to move this to "Old Cases."

I know in 1990's, if you had a valid Alumni Associated card, you could use just about any college library in PA. I was able to use the U Penn library.

[J. J. in Phila]

Originally posted by birdgirl1200 [*]

While I was able to roam the library, I doubt if I would have been able to use any of their services since I was a non student. Nobody cared if I just looked while I was there.

I once had an old desk from Pattee. My ex husband has it now. [/*]

I think at least some services are available for alumni.

In the 1980's, they basically didn't have guards standing in front of buildings. In some places, security has changed greatly, especially after 9/11, and I don't know if Penn State is one of those places.

I have registered a domain name and will shortly begin creating a website which I hope will generate some new leads in this case.

Please bookmark if you have interest in the case and pass it on. Should have something up in the next day or two.

www.whokilledbetsy.com

Thanks,

Derek

Originally posted by J. J. in Phila [*]
I'm still wondering about Professor Durgy. He actually left on Thanksgiving Day and I'm wondering if he had all his stuff out of Bellefonte on that day. [/*]

It seems as though Durgy would have had to have been secondary to the murder, though, in the sense that he was physically on the road with his wife and child at the time. So he would have had to have asked/paid/?? someone into committing the actual crime.

I'd like to know what was causing Durgy so much stress. Although, having been a teacher, it's not uncommon to feel that way. It's entirely possible that teaching at PSU so far from his roots was just too much for him. I walked away from a teaching job last year because there was just too much crap around it.

Derek

Originally posted by Cloudbuster
It is eeery how she died. Seems like she was into something that she was researching and that someone was looking at it as something they didn't want out. It feels like to me the person was not your average student but yet someone who fitted in with the others. I usually run on what things feel like. [/*]

No one has ever fully explained what the research project she was working on entailed, so you might be on to something. I am starting to suspect the killer was someone who was in the college milieu; perhaps another student, but more likely an employee or adjunct of some sort.

Derek

www.whokilledbetsy.com -- coming soon

Does anyone know how to get into contact with Pamela West? I know RG had urged her to investigate the case for a possible book; perhaps while she was receiving his official assistance she was privy to more information than a normal person might have been able to get ahold of.

She seems to have been a very *-grade author, as it appears she only did the one book and it doesn't seem very popular. I had to dig quite a bit to even find a link to where it could be purchased.

Derek

[sherrijean981]

Originally posted by littlehorn [*]Does anyone know how to get into contact with Pamela West? I know RG had urged her to investigate the case for a possible book; perhaps while she was receiving his official assistance she was privy to more information than a normal person might have been able to get ahold of.

She seems to have been a very *-grade author, as it appears she only did the one book and it doesn't seem very popular. I had to dig quite a bit to even find a link to where it could be purchased.

Derek [/*]

I found the book on line very easily and had it within a couple days. Through Amazon.com and it came through a store in NY.

My thoughts on the book, has the professor in the book into music. I thought the professor she was doing a project for said it was into researching. She was on the level with poetry. Was she researching an author, or story in poetry?

Links I have read on Ms Aardsmaa have most of her class in the library for her one class. Were they doing a research on the same line or each to do a different research?

I also found a couple more items that could have related to RG's disappearance or walkaway, than was mentioned by Det. Rickard or Pete Bosak. Such as RayBan Sun Glasses, (RG's were sunglasses were missing), a mention of purple irises and lilacs flowers, (there were daffodils) found in Lewisburg when RG went missing. The BMW in the book and RG's Mini Cooper being made by BMW. The mention of ashes in an urn of a deceased professor, (ashes found in the Mini), a mention of a road along a canal going to a cemetery, and part of the Susquehanna had a canal running along it. Just a few things I noted in the book.

I know RG talked with her about Aardsmaa case and her doing a book, a fiction, but I wonder if she got the one paragraph in the book from him? His words or hers? Did RG tell her what he thought a perfect crime was?

Quote from "20/20 Vision" by Pamela West, August 1990:

"To be a perfect crime, certain elements must all be there, certain clues visible in plain sight. The criminal must be masterly; he must not only get away with it, but he must do so with public abetment. All the discrepancies must be ironed out, but the ending, neverless, must be ambigious. There are strict canons that must be met, rules that must be satisfied before the case even comes to our notice. The work must act as an infinity of mirrors, interpretable to different people in different ways and on many levels. The problem is in judging. What is art? What is perfect?" Quote

[Cloudbuster]

Another suggestion is to try to garnish any information from this site below, being its a state college forum. The folks are not as nice as here but it can still lead to some tips. I started a thread for you with a link to your new website.

http://www.statecollege.com/townhall...pic.php?t=4256
http://www.statecollege.com/townhall/viewforum.php?f=1

Thanks for the thread starter. I'll be sure to bookmark over there so I check there regularly as well.

Derek

Nice bunch! Looks like they already deleted the topic you started for me. I clicked the link and it said "Thread or topic does not exist." ??

Derek

[J. J. in Phila]

Originally posted by littlehorn


She seems to have been a very *-grade author, as it appears she only did the one book and it doesn't seem very popular. I had to dig quite a bit to even find a link to where it could be purchased.

Derek [/*]

No, I don't have her contact information, but I kind of have the feeling that she has visited this site.

She did publish several other novels, at least one about Jack the Ripper (I don't think he's a suspect either). The link is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Yours-Truly-ja.../dp/0440202590

I actually thought 20/20 Vision was good science fiction.

[J. J. in Phila]

Originally posted by littlehorn [*]

It seems as though Durgy would have had to have been secondary to the murder, though, in the sense that he was physically on the road with his wife and child at the time. So he would have had to have asked/paid/?? someone into committing the actual crime.

I'm not sure. It's about a six hour trip, today, but a holiday in 1969, I don't know. The question is, was he accounted for?

Originally posted by littlehorn [*]JJ,



Most of the folks I have talked to feel that Durgy was effectively ruled out as a suspect, just an odd coincidence. For one thing, the timeline is off, as Durgy was on his way home with his family to Ann Arbor at the time Aardsma was killed.

[/*]

I find it difficult to believe that it was just an "odd coincidence". Is it possible that Aardsma and Durgy were having an affair? Maybe she threatened to tell his wife and that's why he wanted her silenced.

I'm just theorizing here, of course, but she was dressed like she was going to meet someone special. Durgy and Aardsma arrived in State College around the same time. He "can't handle" things and leaves town shortly after her death and then he dies in a mysterious accident. Too much to just chalk up to coincidence.

Originally posted by J. J. in Phila [*]

No, I don't have her contact information, but I kind of have the feeling that she has visited this site.

She did publish several other novels, at least one about Jack the Ripper (I don't think he's a suspect either). The link is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Yours-Truly-ja.../dp/0440202590

I actually thought 20/20 Vision was good science fiction. [/*]

It just seemed to me from what I found that she hadn't done a whole lot, or what she did was hard to find.

Regards,

Derek

Originally posted by J. J. in Phila [*]

I'm not sure. It's about a six hour trip, today, but a holiday in 1969, I don't know. The question is, was he accounted for? [/*]

According to the timeline here:

http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/.../timeline.html
He actually left on November 27th.

As far as I understand, he never returned to the State College area.

It would be interesting to talk to whoever he saw for "counselling" to see if they had any insight. However, as I understand it the police completely ruled him out, even going so far as to interview him in Michigan.

Derek

Originally posted by littlehorn [*]I have registered a domain name and will shortly begin creating a website which I hope will generate some new leads in this case.

Please bookmark if you have interest in the case and pass it on. Should have something up in the next day or two.

www.whokilledbetsy.com

Thanks,

Derek [/*]

I have it bookmarked, Derek, and can't wait to see what you add to the site.

Originally posted by Nitt [*]

I find it difficult to believe that it was just an "odd coincidence". Is it possible that Aardsma and Durgy were having an affair? Maybe she threatened to tell his wife and that's why he wanted her silenced.[/*]

It's entirely possible. However, we will never know that for sure, as both of the people who were involved in it directly are dead. I believe Durgy's wife has since passed also. If Aardsma and Durgy were having an affair, it's not something that has ever been brought up by any of her friends or roommates, so she must have been tight-lipped about it if it was occurring.

Derek

Originally posted by Nitt [*]

I have it bookmarked, Derek, and can't wait to see what you add to the site. [/*]

Thanks. I hope I am able to help solve this case in some way. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing the right thing trying to dredge up something that has been quiet for so long. But it just bothers me that, if the murderer WASN'T Durgy, he has had a free pass for the last 40 years.

Regards,

Derek

True. And even if it WAS Durgy, the case needs closure.

Originally posted by Nitt [*]True. And even if it WAS Durgy, the case needs closure. [/*]

Agreed. Although your guess is as good as mine as to how to provide that if Durgy was the killer.

Let's try this again at the state college forums:

http://www.statecollege.com/townhall...?p=41314#41314

Regards.

[Cloudbuster]

littlehorn your link is still up on the state college board and I don't know why they deleted mine but lets hope yours stays up. I can see why you want some closure to this. I have a old case in my family that has never been resolved. My cousin was killed and dumped into a creek when I was 14 and he was one week from his 16th birthday. At first the police said it was foul play from all the brusies he had then later retracked it to accidental drowning in a swallow creek???? it was a small police force and I honestly feel they just didn't want the headaches and consumpution of time that it would involve. Back then in school I would hear always the same thing about a african american man who killed my cousin. Made a example out of him. The family still wonders what really happened the week he was missing and how he really ended up in a creek. My cousin could swim thats the kicker.

[sherrijean981]

Originally posted by Nitt [*]

I find it difficult to believe that it was just an "odd coincidence". Is it possible that Aardsma and Durgy were having an affair? Maybe she threatened to tell his wife and that's why he wanted her silenced.

I'm just theorizing here, of course, but she was dressed like she was going to meet someone special. Durgy and Aardsma arrived in State College around the same time. He "can't handle" things and leaves town shortly after her death and then he dies in a mysterious accident. Too much to just chalk up to coincidence. [/*]

Maybe the wife already knew?

[sherrijean981]

Originally posted by J. J. in Phila [*]

No, I don't have her contact information, but I kind of have the feeling that she has visited this site.

She did publish several other novels, at least one about Jack the Ripper (I don't think he's a suspect either). The link is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Yours-Truly-ja.../dp/0440202590

I actually thought 20/20 Vision was good science fiction. [/*]

I am not into science fiction but the mystery was good, going back and forth in time. I was hooked on it from the start and couldn't put it down.