(MARYVILLE, Mo.) A 40-year-old cold case has been reawakened through technology.
In August of 1973, Teresa "Tess" Hilt was killed in her Maryville apartment. The murder was never solved.
Hilt was a friend to many on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University.
Four decades later, people still remember her kindness.
"I was walking around campus, and I kind of looked with big eyes walking around, and Tess walked right up and said 'Can I help you?' That was the kind of person she was. She was a very kind, very generous person," says Michall Holmes, who attended Northwest with Hilt back in the early 1970s.
In 1973, Hilt was at Northwest going for her master's degree to be a counselor.
She had her whole life ahead of her, but one night in her apartment, someone took it away.
"There was both stabbing and strangulation. There was a small knife found actually in her hand, more of a stage-type setting with the knife, but we don't necessarily believe that small knife was the tool that killed her," says Keith Wood, Director of Maryville Public Safety.
"I know where I was. I was sitting at that table. I saw it. It was such a shocking experience," says Holmes.
The detective work then wasn't enough.
"From reading the report, they did all of the things that were right for the time. There were a number of different polygraphs ran and various agencies were involved," Wood says.
When Wood came in as Director around 23 years ago, he and the Missouri State Highway Patrol opened the case back up, but again, all leads ran cold.
"It's just troubling to think that the perpetrator is still out there somewhere. That, combined with the need to still just satisfy justice," Wood says.
Recently, Hilt's old friend, Holmes, began wondering whatever happened with the case, and found the crime was unsolved.
He wanted to help, and learned the web was the best place to start. Now, a Facebook page and a website, justicefortess.com, has reopened the case.
"That webpage today, after 11 months, has had 88, almost 89,000 hits," says Holmes.
The page has brought in nearly 300 tips, but still not the right one to solve the case.
Holmes is desperate for the one that will identify the killer.
"The problem I have with this is it's so unfair and so unjust, because Tess didn't get to go on and have a family. She didn't get to go on and have children and grandchildren, but whoever killed her, probably did, and that's not just, and that's not right," he says.
Investigators want to remind us that by now, the killer would be at least in their sixties.
Holmes wants to solve this case before time runs out.
If you have any tips, send an email to Tips4Tess@aol.com, or call Maryville Public Safety at (660) 562-3209.
In August of 1973, Teresa "Tess" Hilt was killed in her Maryville apartment. The murder was never solved.
Hilt was a friend to many on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University.
Four decades later, people still remember her kindness.
"I was walking around campus, and I kind of looked with big eyes walking around, and Tess walked right up and said 'Can I help you?' That was the kind of person she was. She was a very kind, very generous person," says Michall Holmes, who attended Northwest with Hilt back in the early 1970s.
In 1973, Hilt was at Northwest going for her master's degree to be a counselor.
She had her whole life ahead of her, but one night in her apartment, someone took it away.
"There was both stabbing and strangulation. There was a small knife found actually in her hand, more of a stage-type setting with the knife, but we don't necessarily believe that small knife was the tool that killed her," says Keith Wood, Director of Maryville Public Safety.
"I know where I was. I was sitting at that table. I saw it. It was such a shocking experience," says Holmes.
The detective work then wasn't enough.
"From reading the report, they did all of the things that were right for the time. There were a number of different polygraphs ran and various agencies were involved," Wood says.
When Wood came in as Director around 23 years ago, he and the Missouri State Highway Patrol opened the case back up, but again, all leads ran cold.
"It's just troubling to think that the perpetrator is still out there somewhere. That, combined with the need to still just satisfy justice," Wood says.
Recently, Hilt's old friend, Holmes, began wondering whatever happened with the case, and found the crime was unsolved.
He wanted to help, and learned the web was the best place to start. Now, a Facebook page and a website, justicefortess.com, has reopened the case.
"That webpage today, after 11 months, has had 88, almost 89,000 hits," says Holmes.
The page has brought in nearly 300 tips, but still not the right one to solve the case.
Holmes is desperate for the one that will identify the killer.
"The problem I have with this is it's so unfair and so unjust, because Tess didn't get to go on and have a family. She didn't get to go on and have children and grandchildren, but whoever killed her, probably did, and that's not just, and that's not right," he says.
Investigators want to remind us that by now, the killer would be at least in their sixties.
Holmes wants to solve this case before time runs out.
If you have any tips, send an email to Tips4Tess@aol.com, or call Maryville Public Safety at (660) 562-3209.
