Tracy Buck

On a cold winter day in January 1973, a horrific discovery was made inside a home in a quiet Dayton, Ohio, neighborhood, revealing a tragedy that would haunt the community for decades. Six-year-old Tracy Buck, a White female, her five-year-old brother Scott, and their 26-year-old mother, Gloria, were found murdered in their residence at 2020 Arthur Avenue in Harrison Township. The gruesome scene was discovered on Saturday, January 13, 1973, by a concerned neighbor who entered the house and found the entire family had been slain.

The crime scene was one of extreme violence. Gloria Buck had been beaten, stabbed multiple times, and shot in the head. Defensive wounds on her hands indicated she had fought fiercely against her attacker, likely in a desperate attempt to protect her two young children. Tracy and her little brother Scott had both been stabbed to death. The brutality of the murders sent a shockwave through the Dayton area, leaving friends and neighbors stunned and horrified by the loss of a young mother and her innocent children.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office launched an immediate and intensive investigation into the triple homicide. The case, however, grew more complex just 12 days later. On January 25, 1973, another murder occurred in the area. Thirteen-year-old Linda Sue Dearth was found raped and shot to death in her family’s home on North Diamond Mill Road. Investigators soon uncovered a chilling connection between the two crime scenes. Ballistics testing confirmed that the same .22 caliber Ruger firearm was used in both the murder of Gloria Buck and Linda Dearth. Authorities came to believe the weapon had been stolen from the Buck residence during the January 13th attack and then used in the subsequent crime.

This crucial piece of evidence linked the two cases but did not immediately lead to an arrest. Over the years, investigators pursued various leads and considered multiple individuals. At one point, a teenage babysitter who had worked for the Buck family was briefly considered a person of interest and even charged in connection with the crime. However, she was later exonerated when the ballistics evidence linking the Buck and Dearth murders came to light, proving she could not have been involved in both incidents.

Despite the firearm connection and decades of police work, no one has ever been convicted for the murders of Tracy, Scott, and Gloria Buck. The case grew cold, leaving a lingering sense of injustice and unanswered questions for the family's surviving relatives and the community. The slayings on Arthur Avenue, coupled with the connected murder of Linda Dearth, remain among the most disturbing and high-profile unsolved crimes in the region's history.

Decades have passed, but the memory of the young family has not faded. The case remains open with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, periodically reviewed by cold case detectives hoping that new technology, a fresh look at the evidence, or a long-overdue witness statement might finally break the silence. As of November 2023, the investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement continues to ask for the public's help, urging anyone with any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward and help bring a measure of peace to the loved ones of Tracy, Scott, and Gloria Buck.