SILVER CREEK, N.Y. — The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office Unsolved Cases team is asking the public for help in connection with a missing person's case from 1976.
Judith Threlkeld, 22, disappeared in 1976. She was last seen walking home on Central Avenue in Silver Creek after leaving the Anderson-Lee Library. She was reported missing by Silver Creek Police on March 8, 1976.
Police say she was wearing blue jeans, a khaki shirt, a blue sweater, a navy blue suede coat, and snow boots. She was also carrying a brown purse.
Now, investigators with the sheriff's office are looking for new leads in the case.
On Thursday, they released a picture of a dump truck, similar to one that was seen on Howard Street in the Village of Silver Creek around time Threlkeld went missing. They believe the vehicle was operated by a a white, adult male in his mid-twenties with sandy blond hair and a beard.
Last month, the Unsolved Cases team was looking to identify a private investigator that a family member of Threlkeld hired in the 1980s to look into her disappearance. That family member has since died and investigators are hoping they can locate the private investigator.
Last July, police said they received information on the Threlkeld case while investigating an unrelated homicide case, but did not release any further details.
If you have any information on the vehicle and its driver, or the identity of the private investigator, you're asked to contact the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office via email at unsolvedchautauqua@sheriff.us or by calling (716) 753-4578.
Unsolved Chautauqua was created the the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Unsolved Cases team to solve missing person cases, as well other crimes in the county.
A fundraiser was held last week to raise money for the cold case team.
