A police department in California is drawing attention to a 45-year-old cold case by tweeting about the crime as if it just happened in the voice of the 11-year-old murder victim.
The Newport Beach Police Department suspended all its normal Twitter activity on Friday and Saturday to post an extensive series of tweets about Linda O’Keefe.
The blue-eyed girl was kidnapped while walking home from school on July 6, 1973, and her body was found the following morning in a nearby nature preserve.
On the 45th anniversary of her abduction and murder, the department, located just south of Los Angeles, wrote the tweets as if Linda herself was telling readers about the last hours of her young life.
A police department in California is drawing attention to a 45-year-old cold case by tweeting about the crime in the voice of the 11-year-old murder victim Linda O’Keefe
Linda was kidnapped while walking home from school on July 6, 1973, and her body was found the following morning in a nearby nature preserve
The tweets have been collected into became a Moment on the social media site and have been gaining attention under #LindasStory.
‘Hi. I’m Linda O’Keefe (or Linda ANN O’Keefe, if I’m in trouble with my mom),’ the first tweet reads.
‘Forty-five years ago today, I disappeared from Newport Beach. I was murdered and my body was found in the Back Bay. My killer was never found. Today, I’m going to tell you my story.’
They continue by telling readers about Linda’s morning and day at summer school, including that her mother told her she couldn’t pick her up and to take the short walk home.
The Newport Beach Police Department suspended all its normal Twitter activity on Friday and Saturday to share Linda’s story
In one of the tweets, the police department tweet about the dress Linda was last seen in
The Newport Police Department shared Linda’s story on their Twitter page on the 45th anniversary of her abduction and murder in a bid to finally catch her killer
‘No one is concerned when I don’t come home from school right away. Or not TOO concerned, anyway,’ reads another post written in Linda’s voice.
‘It’s a different time back in 1973, and kids roam the neighborhood on their bikes for hours at a time.’
The tweets then detail how Linda’s parents and 18-year-old sister began looking for her and calling around to friends and family.
‘When my dad gets home from work, worry turns to action. We have two family cars,’ another tweet reads.
‘My dad gets in one, my big sister gets in the other, and they start to look for me. There’s a feeling that I’m being disobedient, not that anything is actually *wrong*.’
In the tweets, readers hear about Linda’s morning and day at summer school before she vanished
Police also explain in chilling detail how a bicyclist found her body while he was looking for frogs among cattails
Another adds: ‘The sun is setting, and still there’s no sign of me. My sister thinks I’m going to be in big trouble whenever they find me. My mom knows I’d never stay out past dark.’
They tweets also tell of witnesses who may have seen or heard Linda the day she vanished.
‘A lady in the bluffs above Back Bay hears a female voice outside, screaming ‘Stop, you’re hurting me’. She listens, but hears nothing more,’ one haunting tweet says.
‘She doesn’t know that I’m missing. That I’ll be dead by morning. That I’ll be found a couple hundred yards from her home.’
At the time of the murder, a police bulletin (pictured) showed a sketch of person of interest
The police also show a report about Linda’s disappearance on the front page of the Daily Pilot
They also explain in chilling detail how a bicyclist found her body while he was looking for frogs among cattails.
‘He sees something small, and pale. My hand. He sees my hand,’ the tweet reads. ‘He screams, trying to rouse me.’
Another tweet describes how the man’s friends follow his screams and see her body, as well.
‘His friends come over when they hear him screaming. Peering through the cattails, they gasp. They don’t know who I am, of course… or who I was,’ the thread continues.
In addition to the tweets, the police department posted what they say is a new lead
An image of the suspected killer shows what he might have looked like in 1973
Based on DNA evidence used to predict his eye, hair and skin color, and his face shape, an image shows what the suspected killer might look like now
‘But they see a young girl’s body, still in my mom’s homemade dress. I’ve been strangled.’
In addition to the tweets, the department posted what they say is a new lead, images of the suspected killer and what he might have looked like in 1973 and what he would look like now – all based on DNA evidence used to predict his eye, hair and skin color, and his face shape.
In a news release about the series of tweets, the department said the posts were designed to ‘give Linda a voice once again.’
‘Years have passed since this heinous murder, but the (department) remains dedicated to justice for Linda, and committed to finding her killer,’ the department said.