Holloman Air Force Base Airman Rudy Victor Disappeared; Remains Found in Montana in 1982 Match Rudy Victor’s DNA (June 15, 1974)

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A1C Rudy Victor, US Air Force

Officials with Holloman Air Force Base say that a 43-year-old cold case involving an AWOL Airman has come to a close after investigators were able to match DNA and dental records to remains found in the Montana wilderness in 1982 to the missing airman. Airman First Class Rudy Redd Victor, 20, from Shiprock, NM was assigned to Holloman Air Force Base in 1974 when he was awarded leave to visit family in Arizona and Colorado.

Witness reports indicate the last location of Victor was near the Wolf Creek Rest area in Lewis and Clark County, Montana. Shortly thereafter, Victor went missing and he was categorized as AWOL by the U.S. Air Force after he failed to return to duty in June 1974…According to the Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office and Lewis and Clark County Coroner, Airman Victor’s death was most likely due to suicide [on or about June 15, 1974].

Read more: El Paso Proud

Related Links:
Obituary: Rudy Redd Victor
Montana “Cold Case” remains identified as an AF member
Remains in 43-year-old Montana ‘cold case’ ID’d as Holloman Airman
Holloman Airman who vanished identified 43 years later in Montana
Missing airman ID’d as remains found in Wolf Creek canyon in 1980s
Remains identified as those of missing Holloman Airman, 43-year-old cold case solved
From cold case to case closed: Remains in Montana solve decades-old mystery
Officials determine remains found in Wolf Creek in ’80s belonged to missing airman
Missing airman’s remains identified — 43 years after he went missing
Officials ID remains of airman who vanished in Montana
Remains ID’d of US airman who vanished in Montana in 1974
Remains of Shiprock airman identified in Montana cold case
Montana Cold Case Solved Through NamUs Hit

Cold Case: Maria Ridulph of Illinois Reported Missing and Later Found Fatally Stabbed; Air Force Veteran John Tessier Wrongfully Convicted of Homicide and Set Free (1957)

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Maria Ridulph, 7, Illinois

Maria Ridulph, 7, disappeared on December 3, 1957 in Sycamore, Illinois. She was found stabbed to death a few months later. Air Force veteran John Tessier (aka Jack McCullough) of Seattle, Washington, 17 at the time, was convicted in 2012 of the kidnapping and murder of Maria and sentenced to life in prison. It was the oldest cold case in the country to be solved but soon that victory would be lost and conviction overturned on appeal. A prosecutor found evidence that supported McCullough’s long-held alibi that he had been 40 miles away at the time of the disappearance. As a matter of fact, the former Captain was enlisting in the Air Force and left for active duty service a few days later. A certificate of innocence was issued and Jack McCullough was set free on April 15, 2016. Despite the past sexual abuse of minors allegations, which McCullough doesn’t deny, he wants to clear his name of the homicide. McCullough is suing the State of Illinois for wrongful conviction. The case remains unsolved to this day.

Related Links:
Jack McCullough: The Last Man Standing
48 Hours: Cold as Ice
Jack McCullough Case: A Timeline
Footsteps in the Snow: The Cold Case Murder of Maria Ridulph
Train ticket could solve 50-year Maria Ridulph murder mystery
Maria Ridulph Alleged Killer Arrested: How Cops Finally Found Jack McCullough
Man guilty of murder in 1957
Jack McCullough, 72, convicted in 1957 murder of Maria Ridulph, 7
Former cop convicted in 1957 murder of 7-year-old Illinois girl
McCullough gets life for 1957 killing of 7-year-old
Ex-police officer convicted in murder of 7-year-old Illinois girl ,Maria Ridulph, snatched from a small-town street corner 55 years ago
Oldest U.S. cold case closed in Illinois
The murder that became the oldest solved cold case in America
Illinois: People v. McCullough (2015)
Newly discovered evidence in one of the oldest unsolved crimes in U.S. history to ever make it to trial means a 76-year-old convicted and sentenced to life in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl has a chance to go free
Prosecutor moves to dismiss 1957 cold case murder conviction
Police eye new suspect over 1957 murder of seven-year-old girl after receiving an anonymous letter in the mail possibly naming her real killer
Illinois prosecutor: Wrong man convicted of 1957 murder of 7-year-old girl
Judge: I’m not ready to free ’57 cold case convict
Jack McCullough freed after conviction vacated in ’57 Sycamore murder
Prosecutor: Man wrongly convicted of 1957 cold-case murder
Man wrongfully convicted in 1957 cold case murder declared innocent
Schmack: Jack McCullough falsely convicted in 1957 Maria Ridulph murder
Man wrongfully convicted in 1957 cold case killing of Maria Ridulph, 7, ruled innocent
Jack McCullough Free After Judge Orders New Trial In 1957 Murder Of Maria Ridulph
Wrong Man Convicted of 1957 Murder in Illinois, Prosecutor Says
Seattle man wrongly convicted in 1957 child’s killing goes free
Schmack Posits McCullough’s Innocence
The Sad Tale Of Maria Ridulph’s Disappearance And The Trial Of Jack McCullough
The Bizarre Murder Of Maria Ridulph — Still Unsolved!
Police eye new suspect in 1957 abduction, murder of 7-year-old girl
Man wrongfully convicted in coldest murder case: ‘I want my name back’
Maria Ridulph A Tragic Case
BrainScratch: Maria Ridulph


2017 Illinois History Fair State Superior documentary on the longest cold case in US history. Produced by River Ridge High School Hanover, Illinois.