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Possible homicide now seenf in North Adams girl’s deathBy James E. Overmyers Kim M. Benoit, the 18-year-j. old North Adams girl found dead in Florida a week ago, may have been strangled, ae* i- cording to authorities.Asst. Dist. Atty. William R. Flynn said last night that after receiving a follow-up pathologist’s report yesterday, her f. death “merits .. further '■ in-i vestigation” as a homicide, s , Blood tests by Dr.. George W. .. Curtis of Boston, who autopsied . the North Adams high school L senior last weekend, ruled out a i drug overdose, a main theory of the investigators oh the case, Flynn said.1 State Police Det, Lt. Milo F. y Brown jr., the chief in-- vestigator, said last night that j with drugs ruled out as a factor, ) the presence of blood in the f dead girl’s throat muscles and c what he described as “marks” on her throat have gained in importance.“We’re not entirely sure of the cause of death, but a . possible contributing cause is strangulation,” he said.Found near riverThe body of Miss Benoit, who failed to return Nov.. 1 to the apartment of a friend where she had been living, was found near the Deerfield River an the easternmost section of Florida by a deer hunter Saturday afternoon,Lt. Brown said last night the investigators assume she was brought there by car and left by someone. The section of River Road on the way to the Claremont village of Zoar is “not a place one would ordinarily be on foot,” he said.The girl’s body was found without a coat or identification, lying face down at a plateau 58. feet off the road, partway to the river.Flynn said that in addition to the throat bleeding and presence on her throat of the marks, i “bruises is not the right word, really'1), the autopsy disclosed signs of swelling and bleedingunder the girl's scalp, anotherpossible sign of forcible injury.Brown said last night investigators have talked to well over 20 people in the North Adams area, and “we have a number of reports of her whereabouts, all of which we’re tracking down.”Miss Benoit went to a dance at the Sons of Italy Lodge in North Adams the night of Friday, Nov, i and failed to return home after that.Brown said the interviewing of people who might have seen her will be continued by him, Det. Staff Sgt. Richard J. Clemens, Trooper John F. Flaherty of the Pittsfield barracks and the North Adams police.
Newspaper Details
The Berkshire Eagle
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, US
Sat, Nov 23, 1974
Page 21
Full Page
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Anonymous
NC, USA 23 May 2021
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