It was around bout 11 m on the evening of May 24th, 1989, when first responders from the town of Westport, Connecticut arrived to a brush fire. The blaze was behind a shopping plaza that was located at 377 Main Street. There they would make a disturbing find, the murdered and burned body of an adult female. She would be identified as Joan Wertkin, a married mother who was 38 years old. Whoever killed her, had strangled her and set her on fire. Her vehicle which was a white colored 1988 BMW 325 that was parked in the front of the same shopping plaza where he had been found. Her husband had stated that his wife had done grocery shopping and he reported her missing that night.
There have been no suspects named in the case but in the Westport in 1985, a still unidentified black female had been murdered and lit on fire in the woods alongside Interstate 95. Her name and murderer have never been caught. Another unidentified black female was found dead years later in the city of Bridgeport just a few miles away and she had also been lit on fire (no cause or manner death of listed). The Westport Police Department has been looking at doing more forensic evidence examination in this case and those in Westport who remember this case are hopeful.
If you have any information about the murder of Joan Wertkin, please contact the Westport Police Department at 03-520-3831 or coldcasetips@westportct.gov.
(Sources CT Insider author Kayla Mutchler) https://www.ctinsider.com/westport/article/westport-cold-case-dna-profiling-17728810.php
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