It was 42 years ago Tuesday that a woman and her son were found dead in a burned-out car in Thornton, and the case remains unsolved.Status: Unsolved homicidesCity/town: ThorntonYear of deaths: 1982The deaths of Janet Dow, 40, and Stephen Dow, 18, were initially ruled accidental.Their bodies were found in a Saab at the bottom of an embankment along Route 175 on Dec. 10, 1982.Eleven years later in 1993, state police reopened the case based on new evidence they said indicated the Dows’ deaths might have been the result of foul play.”The explosion struck me as quite loud for gasoline and possibly more of a shop nature, but bothered me when I arrived at the scene and found the passenger compartment fully involved and not so much the exterior of the vehicle,” a first responder said in 1982. The victims lived a short distance away from where the burning car was found.According to the attorney general’s office, the chief suspect was Janet’s husband, former state trooper Richard Dow.No charges were ever filed against him.
THORNTON, N.H. — It was 42 years ago Tuesday that a woman and her son were found dead in a burned-out car in Thornton, and the case remains unsolved.
- Status: Unsolved homicides
- City/town: Thornton
- Year of deaths: 1982
The deaths of Janet Dow, 40, and Stephen Dow, 18, were initially ruled accidental.
Their bodies were found in a Saab at the bottom of an embankment along Route 175 on Dec. 10, 1982.
Eleven years later in 1993, state police reopened the case based on new evidence they said indicated the Dows’ deaths might have been the result of foul play.
“The explosion struck me as quite loud for gasoline and possibly more of a shop nature, but bothered me when I arrived at the scene and found the passenger compartment fully involved and not so much the exterior of the vehicle,” a first responder said in 1982.
The victims lived a short distance away from where the burning car was found.
According to the attorney general’s office, the chief suspect was Janet’s husband, former state trooper Richard Dow.
No charges were ever filed against him.