Crime Documentary - The Donna Awcock story
- 7 years ago
Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
It was on Oct.13, 1983 that 17-year-old Donna Jean Awcock was murdered.
On the night of her disappearance, Awcock was babysitting for a woman who asked her to go to the convenience store for her.
The clerk at the store said she remembered the young girl and says she looked nervous.
That was last time Awcock was seen alive.
Her body was found the next day near the Fanshawe Dam. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
The crime has never been solved.
"For somebody to grab her, rape her, beat her, she didn't deserve what someone did to her," says Donna's mother Carolyn Awcock.
Family members say Donna wasn't in possession of her purse the night of the murder, but police picked it up as evidence and finally returned it November 2013.
Awcock, a green-eyed teen with dirty blond hair, lived with her family in an apartment on Cheyenne Ave., now Oakville Ave., in northeast London.
She loved children and they loved her. She often babysat for Dennett, who also lived with their parents in the apartment.
The night she was last seen alive, Awcock had been babysitting for a woman who lived in the next-door building.
The woman asked Awcock to run to a nearby store to pick her up some cigarettes, but Awcock never returned.
The next morning, realizing she was missing, Awcock’s family called police. They told them she may have run away. But that wasn’t like her, so they began a search with neighbours.
Seven or eight hours later, two boys said they came across the teen’s body, said Dennett, who’s relived the agonizing day thousands of times.
Awcock had been raped and killed.
“Both my parents fell to their knees,” said Dennett, her voice cracking. “My dad aged 10 years overnight.”
Since that day, Oct. 13, 1983, Awcock’s case has routinely been included in police cold-case projects.
High-profile killers Paul Bernardo and Tennessee fugitive Joe Shepherd were suspects, but eliminated.
“It’s never a closed case,” said OPP spokesperson David Rektor, adding the Ontario government put up the reward money to generate tips.
It was on Oct.13, 1983 that 17-year-old Donna Jean Awcock was murdered.
On the night of her disappearance, Awcock was babysitting for a woman who asked her to go to the convenience store for her.
The clerk at the store said she remembered the young girl and says she looked nervous.
That was last time Awcock was seen alive.
Her body was found the next day near the Fanshawe Dam. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
The crime has never been solved.
"For somebody to grab her, rape her, beat her, she didn't deserve what someone did to her," says Donna's mother Carolyn Awcock.
Family members say Donna wasn't in possession of her purse the night of the murder, but police picked it up as evidence and finally returned it November 2013.
Awcock, a green-eyed teen with dirty blond hair, lived with her family in an apartment on Cheyenne Ave., now Oakville Ave., in northeast London.
She loved children and they loved her. She often babysat for Dennett, who also lived with their parents in the apartment.
The night she was last seen alive, Awcock had been babysitting for a woman who lived in the next-door building.
The woman asked Awcock to run to a nearby store to pick her up some cigarettes, but Awcock never returned.
The next morning, realizing she was missing, Awcock’s family called police. They told them she may have run away. But that wasn’t like her, so they began a search with neighbours.
Seven or eight hours later, two boys said they came across the teen’s body, said Dennett, who’s relived the agonizing day thousands of times.
Awcock had been raped and killed.
“Both my parents fell to their knees,” said Dennett, her voice cracking. “My dad aged 10 years overnight.”
Since that day, Oct. 13, 1983, Awcock’s case has routinely been included in police cold-case projects.
High-profile killers Paul Bernardo and Tennessee fugitive Joe Shepherd were suspects, but eliminated.
“It’s never a closed case,” said OPP spokesperson David Rektor, adding the Ontario government put up the reward money to generate tips.