Renewed push to solve cold case in Pawtucket

News Staff

Reporting by Liz Tufts

ltufts@abc6.com

There is now a renewed push to solve a cold case in Pawtucket. 25 years ago today, Wendy Madden’s body was found behind a local bar, and investigators on the case say they have new leads that could bring her killer to justice, all thanks to social media.

Wendy Madden had just turned 23 years old when she said goodbye to her mother and boyfriend to buy a pack of cigarettes. She was last seen near the intersection of Railroad and Cross Streets.

Two days later, on March 13th, her body was found. She was a victim of an apparent homicide.

Madden was strangled to death in 1991 behind the now-vacant Jan’s Bar in Pawtucket. Police Sgt. Paul Brandley says 25 years later, investigators have been working around the clock to find her killer.

"We have some new leads that have come in and new information. It’s a matter of going through that information and sifting through it, and finding out what’s credible and what is not," he says.

That new information is all thanks to investigators taking the case to social media. They set up a Facebook page for Madden, and since then, tips have been flowing in.

"There are people who do recall things and no matter how trivial that information may be, we want to hear that information," says Brandley.

Sgt. Brandley says this case is one of many unsolved murders, but over time, tipsters are feeling more confident relaying information over the internet rather than coming to police departments in person.

"If they don’t want to come in person and they feel weird, this gives them the opportunity to not feel intimated," explains Brandley.

Information that could unlock the case of Wendy Madden and bring some comfort to her family 25 years later.

"We are the family’s last shot at justice," adds Brandley.

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