Trail Getting Cold Murder May Remain Mystery EDITORS NOTE: This is the final installment of theories deaths of two young girls in Southern Maine. Yesterdays account dealt with exclusion of the Somersworth, N. H. girls death from the general picture. By REN BUCKLEY NEWS State Desk Long after Massachusetts police have solved the Constance Corcione case and New Hampshire police have closed their . file in the Denise Marcotte death, Maine police will still be trying to solve the murder of Mary Catherine Olenchuk. And, while theyre looking, police in Massachusetts and New Hampshire will be looking for the person or persons who killed Debra Horn, 11, of Allenstown, N. H., and Michelle Wilson, 13, formerly of Brunswick, who was beaten to death near her home in Boxford, Mass. When police are' asked to ' comment on the Olenchuk case theyll invariably refer to the Horn -Wilson cases, for they above all others are extremely similar in nature. Coincidental , But the, similarities are not enough to lead police to the killer. For even though all kre within a reasonable distance of each other considering todays transportation there is . a possibility of coincidental happenings in each state. Ogunquit is the summer playground' of the rich and middle income from the eastern seaboard and even farther afield. In summer months the beaches spill over from the Maine border to Kennebunk and beyond, swelling the villages population from 1,200 to 18,000 to 20,000 people. With such a crowd walking through the beach area and village last August, suddenly someone was noticed missing Mary Catherine Olenchuk a i3-yeav- ' old Joliet, 111. redhead, daughter of Brig. Gen. and Mrs. Peter Olenchuk. The Olenchuks spent their summers on Israels Head Road, in a large modern house that commanded a view stretching into nearby Wells and beyond. Loved Sea Shells , Mary, a homebody, who loved to collect sea shells and trade them; who loved fishing, had yet another love that made her a village landmark her dog, a large English Red Setter. The two seemed Inseparable, whether Mary was riding her Hercules English bicycle or walking ( along the village streets. On, Aug. 9 she was riding home after an afternoon on the beach when she was apparently stopped by someone in a maroon car. Then something happened that is as puzzling as her death. Because of some lure, friendship, or whatever it was, Mary Olenchuk suddenly climbed off her bicycle, propped it under the arch of the Lookout Hotel, climbed into the car and drove away smiling with her companion. Less than 200 yards from her home, Mary Rad done something that her father and mother could not understand. It was a complete break in her routine. Police Chief Carl Perkins of Ogunquit backs up her fathers statement: She. would have had to have known that person to have gotten into that car. Perkins still has men working on the case, long after suspects have been questioned. To him the case is a back breaker. One day this week he told a reporter you could write a novel on the theories alone. When police found Marys body 14 days later under a pile of hay in a weather beaten barn -at Kennebunk just off Route 9, the only thing immediately distinguishable on the girl was a large wristwatch band that ahe had bought in Ogunquit. Had To Know Man The suspects were few at the time. She had to know that person who invited her into the car." An elderly woman resident of the hotel on the third floor happened to see Mary talking with the man in dark clothing. When- she looked again the' car was moving out of the driveway and Mary seemed to be laughing. She. didnt think about it until Mary was reported missing. There was one suspect who had shown more than passing interest in Mary. Another person was questioned and cleared. Two months later he took his own life. And there was another area resident who actually requested and obtained a lie detector test when suspicions were aroused. The test cleared him too. Police started to look even more closely at the Horn-Wilson cases than before. The RCMP at Edmundston, N. B. even attended talks on the Olenchuk case at Augusta because of a similar case in their neighborhood, Chief Perkins explained to a reporter. It was understood during the talks that Maine State Police were much more ready to dis miss any hint of connection than the Mounties, who believed that both deaths could be the work of a sex fiend. No Sign Of Molesting But there was no evidence of sexual molestation in all three cases primarily because in the Hom-Olenchuk cases both bodies were too badly decom-1 posed when found to permit a complete toxicological and autopsy examination. No mention was. made about sex in the Wilson case. Both Miss Wilson and Miss Horn were hit over the head. Mary Olenchuk was strangled. In the summer months the lush foliage along Brown Street and Route 9, if you look really and gives summer residents a privacy they came here to seek. Right at the corner of Brown and Route 9, if you look really close you can see an old barn next to a guest house at the top of the Parsons place. If you drive up Brown Street from Route 9 a short distance, youll find a cable stretching across the driveway to block entry. You could walk around it or you could cross the field. Or, you could even go by boat and walk a small path up to the door at the back of the barn. Thirteen feet inside on the right hand side they found Mary Olenchuk. Had To Know Area As far as Chief Perkins is concerned there are many wavs to reach that barn from Israels Head Road. But the shortest distance is 8.2 miles along Route 1 turning off onto Route 9. And as far as the chief is concerned someone had to know where he was going to find that barn. Even in wintertime its barely visible unless you stop the car and look closely. Peter Gunn, a caretaker at the estate, says police had searched the barn several times before Mary was found. He was with police the day they returned after someone smelled a stench and decided to recheck. Chief Stevens of Kennebunk wonders what the lure was that enticed Mary into the car. Maybe someone mentioned her dog, or asked her to swap seashells she loved to collect them. But he disputes Chief Perkins theory that the person who took Mary to the bam would have had a hard time finding the barn, since everyone in the United States knows where it is. to r
