Suspect’s Family Helps Crack Candy Rogers Murder Case

One Friday day successful 1959, Candice Rogers came location from school, played with her dog, ate an oatmeal cooky and past acceptable retired to merchantability Camp Fire mints successful her vicinity successful Spokane, Wash.

Candy, arsenic she was known, was 9 years aged and a Bluebird, a younger subordinate of the Camp Fire Girls, a younker radical focused connected outdoor activities.

When Candy did not instrumentality location by dark, her grandfather, mother, friends and neighbors began to look for her, and were soon joined by constabulary officers and sheriff’s deputies. Around 9 p.m., boxes of Camp Fire mints, believed to beryllium Candy’s, were recovered strewn on a road.

Candy disappeared connected March 6, 1959. Over the adjacent 16 days, thousands of radical searched for her. The effort included Marines, airmen and subject aircraft, but besides residents connected ft and horseback. An Air Force chopper progressive successful the hunt crashed, sidesplitting 3 unit members.

On March 21, 1959, 2 off-duty airmen hunting successful the woods astir 7 miles from her location noticed a brace of children’s shoes. The adjacent morning, the constabulary returned to the country and recovered Candy’s body. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled with a portion of her ain clothing.

The transgression rocked Spokane. Hundreds of tips poured successful but nary led to Candy’s killer, frustrating detectives who investigated the lawsuit decennary aft decade.

“I support saying it’s the Mount Everest of our acold cases — the 1 that we could ne'er look to overcome, but astatine the aforesaid clip cipher ever forgot,” said Sgt. Zac Storment of the Spokane Police Department.

On Friday, much than 62 years aft Candy was killed, the Spokane constabulary announced that they had solved the lawsuit with DNA grounds and old-fashioned detective work.

The section identified the fishy arsenic John Reigh Hoff, who died by termination successful 1970, erstwhile helium was 31. His girl provided a DNA illustration that linked her begetter to semen that had been recovered connected Candy’s clothing, which had been preserved arsenic grounds successful an epoch agelong earlier the advent of familial investigating astatine transgression scenes.

Mr. Hoff, who was buried successful the aforesaid cemetery arsenic Candy, was aboriginal exhumed, and a DNA illustration taken from his remains confirmed it was his semen, the constabulary said.

While the recognition brought immoderate alleviation to Candy’s fewer surviving relatives, Sergeant Storment said that it was agonizing to person to archer Mr. Hoff’s widow and 4 children that Mr. Hoff was liable for specified a heinous crime.

“I took those people’s lives and their puerility and dumped it connected its head,” helium said astatine a quality league connected Friday. “What they believed astir their begetter and their increasing up has been everlastingly changed.”

Mr. Hoff grew up successful Spokane and had a grounds of petty juvenile crime. He joined the Army erstwhile helium was 17 and served successful Korea arsenic an inventory clerk. He was 20 and lived astir a mile distant from Candy erstwhile she was killed successful 1959.

In 1961, helium was convicted of grabbing a woman, undressing her, tying her up with her ain apparel and strangling her earlier fleeing, the constabulary said. She survived, and Mr. Hoff served six months successful jail, the constabulary said.

As a effect of the conviction, Mr. Hoff was declared a deserter and discharged from the Army, the constabulary said. He sold cutlery and worked successful a lumber gait and a meatpacking plant, wherever helium suffered a chemic pain connected his face.

It was not wide if Mr. Hoff knew Candy, Sergeant Storment said, though they had astatine slightest 1 connection: Mr. Hoff’s stepsister, who was 10, was a Camp Fire Girl who served arsenic Candy’s “big sister” successful the program.

Sergeant Storment said helium had precocious spoken to the stepsister, present successful her 70s, who recalled sitting adjacent to Mr. Hoff, crying and telling him however distraught she was astatine Candy’s death.

Mr. Hoff’s daughter, Cathie, said she felt disbelief, choler and sadness to larn that her begetter had been identified arsenic the suspect. She was 9 erstwhile helium died.

“It’s conscionable truly bittersweet to find retired that idiosyncratic — not adjacent conscionable your dad, but conscionable idiosyncratic successful your household — could bash thing similar that,” she said successful a videotaped interview with the Spokane police, which identified her lone by her archetypal name.

Cathie said she had lived astir of her beingness reasoning her begetter died by termination due to the fact that helium was depressed.

“And present I think, no, helium was evil,” she said. “It wasn’t an escape, successful a way, from it, but helium got to dice with radical reasoning helium was an upstanding man. And helium wasn’t.”

A relative of Candy’s, who was interviewed successful the constabulary video, said: “I consciousness similar Candy’s nonaccomplishment was conscionable a horrible loss. She was truthful cute. And she didn’t person overmuch time.”

Another relative, identified lone arsenic Cheryl, spoke of Candy’s parents and grandparents, saying: “I deliberation it’s truly bittersweet that they passed distant with not knowing who had taken their granddaughter’s and daughter’s life.”

After Mr. Hoff’s assemblage was exhumed from the cemetery wherever Candy had besides been buried, his household had him reburied successful a antithetic cemetery.

“I’m very, precise atrocious for what my dada did, that helium took her life, horribly,” Cathie, Mr. Hoff’s daughter, said successful the videotaped interview. “I anticipation that it gives her bid knowing that, adjacent though it’s not truly justness due to the fact that helium doesn’t get immoderate punishment, but that his sanction has this connected it now. And they tin cognize it’s solved.”