Cold Case: Four Connecticut Child Murders From 1969 to 1970 Remain Unsolved
The deaths of Mary Mount, Dawn Cave, Diane Toney, and Jennifer Noon shocked communities across Connecticut and remain unresolved more than five decades later.
More than fifty years have passed since four young girls disappeared from towns across Connecticut. Ten-year-old Mary Mount vanished in New Canaan, fourteen-year-old Dawn Cave in Bethany, and Diane Toney and five-year-old Jennifer Noon in New Haven. Each girl was later found in wooded areas and had suffered blunt force trauma. Investigators continue to hope that modern forensic advances might one day bring answers to these long-standing cold cases.
Mary Mount
The first child murder in this series occurred in May 1969 in New Canaan. Ten‑year‑old Mary Mount disappeared on May 27 while playing near her home in Kiwanis Park. When she did not return, her family contacted the police, and search efforts began immediately, with volunteers and officers combing nearby neighborhoods and wooded areas.
According to reporting by the New Canaan Daily Voice, Mary’s body was found three weeks after she went missing near the South Norwalk Reservoir in Wilton, where two teenagers discovered her remains while fishing. Investigators determined she had died from blunt force trauma.
Dawn Cave
Only weeks after the New Canaan case, tragedy struck another Connecticut community. Fourteen-year-old Dawn Cave disappeared from her Bethany home on May 29, 1969, after leaving following an argument with a sibling. Search efforts by local police and volunteers began immediately, but initially turned up no leads.
On June 30, 1969, a young girl discovered her body at the edge of a hayfield not far from her hometown. A young girl searching for her horse discovered the remains, which were partially surrounded by stones in a makeshift arrangement.
Authorities determined that Dawn had died from blunt force trauma to the head, the same type of injury seen in other unresolved child murders in southern Connecticut. The circumstances of her disappearance and discovery drew attention because of similarities to other cases in the area, according to the Daily Voice.
Diane Toney
Later that year, eleven‑year‑old Diane Toney disappeared from the Hill neighborhood of New Haven on May 18, 1969, while attending the annual Freddy Fixer parade with family. Her mother reported her missing after she failed to return home that day, and police and volunteers searched area streets and nearby wooded land.
Diane’s remains were also found in a forested section of Guilford, about 15 miles east of New Haven. Authorities determined her death was a homicide, and blunt force trauma was believed to be the cause, according to 9News.
Her disappearance and the subsequent discovery of her body came amid a string of unsolved child murders in southern Connecticut in the spring and summer of 1969, drawing widespread concern.
Jennifer Noon
In 1970, five-year-old Jennifer Noon disappeared on Sept. 29 while walking home from school for lunch in New Haven, a short distance from her neighborhood. It was common for young children to walk short distances alone.
Local police and volunteers quickly organized searches of nearby streets, parks, and wooded areas after she failed to arrive home.
According to The Bridgeport Post, her body was discovered eight days later in a wooded section of Hamden, where investigators determined she had also died from blunt force trauma.
Cold Cases Still Seeking Answers
The deaths of the four girls occurred in a short time period and within a limited geographic area of Connecticut. Each victim disappeared from a residential or public setting and was found in a wooded location in the state.
Despite investigations by local police and federal authorities, no arrests have ever been made. Investigators in the late 1960s and early 1970s did not have the forensic tools available today. Modern DNA testing and advanced investigative technology were not yet part of routine investigations.
Cold case investigators continue to review older evidence in the hopes that advances in forensic science might produce new leads.
Anyone with information about these cases is urged to contact the New Canaan Police Department, Bethany Police Department, New Haven Police Department, or the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection–Cold Case Unit. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1‑800‑222‑TIPS (8477).