Oneida County prosecutor hands cold murder case back to sheriff’s office
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Magdala Louissaint, KPVI
POCATELLO — In July 1978, two girls disappeared from Pocatello’s Alameda Park. Almost four decades later, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office said they were confident they solved the disappearance and murder.
That happened last year, and they haven’t released any more details since.
Monday KPVI discovered the cold case is no longer solved. In fact, the Oneida County prosecutor’s office is handing the investigation back to the sheriff’s office.
Twelve-year-old Tina Anderson and 15-year-old Patricia Campbell disappeared from Pocatello’s Alameda Park in July 1978. Four years later, the girls’ bodies were discovered in a remote area northeast of Malad.
Cody Brower, the Oneida County prosecutor says, “These victims have gone through a lot for a very long time. It’s really hard to continue to drag them through this process and not allow healing to happen.”
It’s been almost 38 years since the girls’ disappearance and murder. The Oneida County sheriff’s office said in 2016 they solved the case and handed it over to county prosecutors but no charges were filed.
Brower says, “Circumstances have risen where some of the evidence we had is no longer available to us. So I’m returning it back to the sheriff’s office for further investigation.
Prosecutors wouldn’t say what the circumstances are, but do say the case is still open and they have more than one suspect.
“I have ethical duties to only file a case that I believe I can prove, and so it’s a tough situation in a case like this where we want justice,” Brower says. “We need justice. But at the same time have to provide it within the restrictions of the law.”
Although investigators don’t have enough evidence right now, Brower says, “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to zealously prosecute somebody that we feel we can prosecute. So I guess what I would say is, in essence we’re doing our very, very best to solve this case. We’re doing our very best to put on competent evidence to bring these victims and families peace.”