Police renew push for tips on anniversary of girl’s death
On the 44-year anniversary of a Sarnia teen’s unsolved death, police have renewed their plea for help finding the driver they believe struck her as she walked along a rural road.
For more than four decades, investigators thought Karen Caughlin, 14, was the victim of a homicide — but that changed last year when police revealed she was likely struck by a vehicle — not beaten to death — on March 16, 1974. Her battered body was found in a ditch on Plowing Match Road (formerly 6th- Side Road) between Churchill Line and LaSalle Line, north of Petrolia.
Police say Caughlin was struck about thee kilometres away on Oil Heritage Road and her body was then moved to where it was found. The teen’s purse was found more than a kilometre away at the bottom of a ravine several days later. The second-youngest of six children, Caughlin was last seen alive between midnight and 1 a.m. after spending the night roller skating in Point Edward with friends. They dropped her off on at another friend’s home in Sarnia, less than two blocks from her home. Though Caughlin was last seen walking toward her girlfriend’s house, the friend who lived there later told police she never arrived. A memorial to her is still kept on the rural road where she was found OPP Det. Insp. Chris Avery, who took over the case six year ago, is leading the investigation. A seven-minute video on the probe, posted to OPP’s YouTube channel in 2014, has been viewed more than 25,000 times. A $50,000 reward for information in the case is still being offered. Anyone with information should contact police at 1-519-882-1011 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477.