Judith Straub, an 18-year-old from Sterling, Ohio, was murdered on August 7, 1977, and her body was found the next day in Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton alongside her 21-year-old boyfriend William Billy Lavaco. The couple had been dating eight months. Straub’s car was left in the park lot with her purse and shoes inside, and family members who gathered there watched as Norton police and a National Guard helicopter searched the high weeds before the bodies were located.

Both victims had been shot at point-blank range with a 20-gauge shotgun. The case stayed unsolved for decades until 2010, when Edward Wayne Edwards confessed to killing Straub and Lavaco; he later pleaded guilty and received two consecutive life terms. Edwards’ daughter April Balascio said he once took her to Silver Creek and pointed to a spot that she later believed marked where the bodies had been left.

Are there readers who remember Silver Creek Park in 1977 or who knew Judith or Billy and can share memories or information?