1985 cold case cracked by unlikely duo
CHAMBLEE, Ga - A cold case dating back 37 years, has now been cracked by a stay at home mom and a civilian who works for a metro Atlanta police department.
"His name was the 1985 Marion County John Doe," said Barbara King Ladd.
Barbara King Ladd lives in Tennessee. She read an article about a man's body found in 1985, not far from her home.
The man had been murdered, but after all these years, he had never been identified.
Barbara was curious. She started checking missing persons sites from Tennessee and neighboring states.
"I thought it would be worth the effort to cross state lines to dump a body. So I honed in on Georgia because it was close to Marion County," said Barbara.
It didn't take long before she found a match.
"When I found Donald, I just knew it was him. If you compare the forensic drawing that was done on the Marion County John Doe to Donald Boardman, it is striking," said Barbara.
Donald Boardman. He had been reported missing to Chamblee Police in November 1985.
Barbara sent a Facebook message to Chamblee Police. Crime analyst Lori Bradburn, who also the Facebook page for the police department, was the first to see the message.
"Just sort of piqued my interest and I ran with it," said Lori.
Lori tracked down Boardman's sister in Florida, got her DNA, and it was a match.
Investigators believe Boardman was murdered, and his body was dumped in Tennessee.
"From what I was able to piece together it seems to be a robbery gone bad," said Lori.
Boardman disappeared in 1985 shortly after buying a brand-new Camaro. A couple of weeks later, police found the car in East Point with 2 men and a woman inside.
The men have since died, investigators would like to talk to the woman to get more details on what happened back in 1985.
"Hopefully she has answers, she can provide at least something that could provide a little more closure," said Lori.
But for now, a 37-year-old cold case has been cracked, thanks to a couple of curious and persistent women.
"I'd love to do more cold cases, apparently this is my thing!" said Lori.
"At some point I'd like to work on another cold case, maybe with Lori. I would love to team up again," said Barbara.