STILL UNSOLVED – 1987 Murder of Barbara Blackstone

I posted this first two years ago.  The murder remains still unsolved.  If anyone has any new information please come forward!  Check out the Facebook group below.  Someone has to know something

There are a lot of memes out there making fun of us old housewives watching murders, unsolved mysteries, and true crime stories on our favorite TV channels. But, there’s some truth to the memes.

Armchair detectives, we love watching the story unfold and getting to the bottom of things. I think we also love learning how people think, their motives and their reasoning. We also love to watch unsolved mysteries, secretly hoping we might pick up something someone else missed.

A friend of mine has taken it beyond the armchair. Once an editor for a local paper here in Juneau County, Wisconsin, Eva Woywod has had a particular story haunt her since she heard about it in 2004.

Barbara Blackstone Disappears

In the summer of 1987, 30 year old Barbara Blackstone, a beloved teacher at a local school district, went missing, only to have her naked remains discovered 70 miles away from her home a month later. Stolen from her own home, she was murdered and her body deposited in the woods to be found by a hunter scouting the area.

Around the same time that year, two other young women were also murdered and left in the woods. There were arrests made for both of these murders, but not for Barbara’s.

Eva has spent a lot of time doing research on Barbara’s case. From all accounts, Barbara was well-loved. She and her husband, Tom, were happily married. She was a favorite teacher among her peers and students. Her personality was cheerful and friendly, easily likable. Why would anyone want to kill her?

Her body was only found about a month after her disappearance, but the summer was warm and decomposition had been severe. There were also wild animals in the area. The coroner was unable to state a cause of death.

Failed Abduction Attempt

The following year, in the summer of 1988, there was a failed abduction attempt of a young woman.  A man in a van aimed his pistol at her and demanded she get in.  When she resisted, he tried to drag her in.  She chose to sit down and wrap her arms around his legs, making it hard for him to pull her in.  When he finally left, she ran to a nearby residence.  From her description, the police drew up a sketch.

 

Even though the murder is over 30 years old, it is an open case. It still haunts many who were involved in the initial investigation. There are unanswered questions, regrets about mistakes made at the time, and perhaps those who wonder if they could or should have done more to find out what happened.

 

 

 

Odd Things Happening In The County

 

Many things happened around that time in Juneau County. There was another unsolved murder that took place within a couple of years of Barbara’s murder. 

 

Were they connected? Could they be connected with a “sex slave” case that made national news in February of 1991?

 

 

 

 

In February 1991, a young woman was held captive for four days, forcibly restrained, sexually assaulted multiple times over the course of the four days, and then finally let go.

 

Eva’s Personal Quest

Eva has made Barbara’s case her personal quest. She has a Facebook group, Unsolved Barbara Blackstone Murder, a personal blog Thankfully Chewed Up And Spat Out and has also recently begun a podcast where she shares the information she knows Listen Here to the podcast. There are possible connections that she has logically put together. Being an open case, law enforcement cannot confirm if the person she suspects herself, is, in fact, a suspect in the case.

Eva will not rest until there is justice for Barbara Blackstone and any other victims who may be out there. There could be a few people out there holding keys to the mystery who may not even know they have them. Being an avid fan of true crime and unsolved murder mysteries myself, I have seen many cases where the littlest memory can be the one big key that unlocks the secret and blows everything open.

Was there someone around who may have seen Barbara being taken from her home? Did anyone see her in a vehicle with someone? Are there other cases of missing women around that same time that have fallen through the cracks and could be connected with Barbara’s case? Maybe there are cases in counties other than Juneau County in Wisconsin. Is this the work of a serial killer or were they random acts?

What does seem obvious is that the disappearances seemed to stop after the “Sex Slave” case in 1991. If it is the work of a serial killer, either something is preventing him from continuing, or he has moved out of the area and has taken up his work elsewhere.

CAN YOU HELP HER?

This case is intriguing to all of us who like unsolved mysteries. It’s edge-of-the-seat interesting. And it’s sad because of the pain brought to so many people who loved Barbara.

Please, check out Eva’s work and her podcasts. Especially if you lived in or near Juneau County Wisconsin between 1985 and 1995. Or, there may be an Illinois connection around the Chicago area about the same time. Listen to the story. Think about that time frame.

Perhaps YOU may hold the key we are looking for