In the case of the woman in this article, we might be able to do something with the purse and the butterfly tattoo.

Also, in response to Tara's post about the reconstructions, I just finished reading a mystery novel that's part of a series in which the detective is a woman who does reconstructions based on skulls of unidentified corpses. And I agree, it's very disturbing and creepy. -- Judy


The Providence Journal (Rhode Island)

September 27, 2007 Thursday
All Editions

Police: Missing Woonsocket woman did not pick up pay

BYLINE: Tatiana Pina, Journal Staff Writer

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. B-02

LENGTH: 566 words

The police say they "believe something has happened" to Vicky L. Connolly.

WOONSOCKET - It has been three weeks since family or friends saw Vicky L. Connolly and her family fears the worst.

Police Detective John Donlon said four detectives are working on the case but they have no new leads.

Connolly, 33, who was reportedly last seen on Sept. 6, worked at the Price Rite supermarket on Diamond Hill Road in Woonsocket. Connolly, of 45 Libbeus St., has not picked up her last paycheck, Donlon says, "which leads us to believe something has happened to her."

Donlon said the police have tried to retrace Connolly's last steps, who she was with and where she went. They know who she was with last, he said. But he declined to identify that person or persons and said only that they are interviewing people of interest.

A woman told the police she saw Connolly on Sept. 6 at 2:30 p.m. on Earl Street in Woonsocket, Donlon said. The police go out every day and look for her, he said. They have searched the riverbanks, the railroad tracks, the parks. "When you are walking the railroad track and river banks, the foliage has not fallen so it's difficult to find anything," he said.

James Tomasso Jr., Connolly's brother said her family fears that she had died. His mother goes out every day to look for her. He, his fiancée, his stepbrother and sister-in-law have been searching for her. It's not like her to be out of touch with the family, he said. What worries him most is that a woman turned in a purse that belonged to his sister. Tomasso said his mother and stepbrother saw the purse and his brother believed there are spots of blood on it. Donlon did not comment on the purse.

"I think something bad happened to her, something really bad. She wouldn't have vanished without calling someone," Tomasso said.

Tomasso said his sister had recently gone through a divorce after nine years of marriage and her husband had custody of their child and it hurt her terribly. She had been drinking and was abusing drugs, he said. She had been arrested on a charge of soliciting for sex, he said. But, she was trying to change her life around, he said.

"She wasn't one to disappear . . . She was going to counseling. She was trying to get away from the bad stuff. She wanted to make a better life for herself, find the right person," he said.
Connolly's absence torments the family, he said. "It has been awful to search by the riverbanks.

We searched behind the Elk club, Social Pond, the big field where they light fireworks, along there by the river, still we can't find nothing. No leads," he said.

Connolly's mother reported her missing Sept. 8. She works second shift and goes out in the morning to look for her and after work, Donlon said.

Tomasso said a person at the Hess Station on Social Street told his family he saw his sister with a man between 1:30 and 5:30 the morning of Sept. 6. He said the family tried to get a video from the station of that night but it was not available.

He says he has a dream that he sees her. "I see her at the Hess station and she says, 'Hi. How are you doing.' Maybe that is because that is what I want to happen."

Connolly is described as 5 feet tall with hazel eyes and strawberry blond hair. She weighs about 160. She has a butterfly tattoo on her right wrist.

Anyone with information is asked to call Woonsocket detectives at (401) 766-1212.
tpina@projo.com / (401) 277-7394

LOAD-DATE: September 28, 2007

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper


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