Who Killed Candy Clothier?

I first read the name Candace Clothier in 1987 in the 1969 issue of Master Detective. She has been a resident of my nightmares ever since.

Candace Clothier, a 16 year old girl from Philadelphia, PA, was found having been disposed of in almost the same manner as Tent Girl. She disappeared from her home in at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, 1968. Hundreds searched for the missing girl. She wasn't found until the early morning hours on April 13, 1968. Three fishermen discovered her body in Neshaminy Creek, Bucks County, PA. The body was tied up in a bag that had washed up on a small island.

I often wondered over the years if her case was truly connected to the Tent Girl. Long before I was born, the Northampton Township Chief of Police was convinced it was connected and traveled to Georgetown, Kentucky to review the possibilities right after the discovery of the Tent Girl.

His theory is detailed below in an excerpt from a 1969 issue of Master Detective.

Is the Crime Related to the Tent Girl Case?
A girl had been found dead under circumstances strikingly similar to the Tent Girl mystery. Anthony Fergione, a tall, dark and handsome police chief of Northampton Township, Pennsylvania, identified the victim in his case as Candace Clothier, a 16-year-old Philadelphia girl. Candy, a quiet, attractive, respectable girl, disappeared from her home about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, 1968. More than 300 firemen and policemen combed the area near her home looking for the missing girl. She was not seen alive again.

On April 13th, some fishermen found her body, nude except for a pair of panties, tied up in a black canvas bag, a small creek in rural Northampton Township. She had been dead about six weeks, but was quickly identified.

By late June, Chief Fergione and Philadelphia detectives interviewed more than 1,000 persons and administered more than 80 polygraph tests. But they were unable to make an arrest. "We just don't have anything conclusive," Fergione said.