Key facts
- Name: Janice Kathryn Pockett
- Born: October 15, 1965, Tolland, Connecticut
- Age at disappearance: 7
- Last seen: July 26, 1973
- Location: Anthony Road / Rhoades Road, Tolland, Connecticut
- Height / build: 4’0″, 65 lbs; blonde hair, blue eyes; gap between front teeth
- Status: Still missing — Connecticut State Police / Tolland County Cold Case Squad, open investigation
- Case numbers: NCIC M-239254040
- Investigating agency: Connecticut State Police; Tolland County Cold Case Squad
The butterfly
On the afternoon of July 26, 1973, seven-year-old Janice Pockett asked her mother for permission to do something small. A few days earlier she had caught a butterfly and left it on a rock by the road. She wanted to ride her bike back and see if it was still there.
It was a big deal, in the way only childhood milestones are: it was the first time Janice was allowed to go out on her own. Her mother handed her an envelope to carry the butterfly home in. Her little sister Mary, six at the time, would never forget the bickering that afternoon — “over something stupid, a toothbrush, I think” — or watching Janice pedal off on her metallic green Murray bicycle with its banana seat and bell.
Half an hour later, Janice hadn’t come home. Her mother went looking and found the bicycle on Rhoades Road, near a wooded area less than a mile from home. The butterfly and the envelope were never found. Neither was Janice.
She has been missing for 53 years.
The search and the station wagon
What followed was one of the largest searches Connecticut had seen: some 800 people combed the woods on foot and horseback, with cadaver dogs, after a seven-year-old who had simply ridden her bike down the road. They found nothing.
One witness gave police something to work with: a blue station wagon seen blocking the road, and a man walking in the direction Janice had biked. The lead went nowhere.
Over the years, the case collected suspects the way cold cases do. Charles Pierce, a convicted pedophile, confessed in the 1970s to killing Janice and burying her near Lawrence, Massachusetts, beside an unidentified boy — a boy investigators believed might be Angelo Puglisi, a Massachusetts child who vanished in 1976. No grave matching the description was ever found. Pierce died in prison in 1999, never charged in Janice’s case.
In 2000, police found a child’s bone fragments in the garage of Nathaniel Bar-Jonah in Great Falls, Montana. Bar-Jonah had been convicted in the abduction and murder of a Montana boy, and — chillingly — at age 14 he had lived only about 20 miles from Janice’s home in 1973, and had been accused of strangling another child. DNA testing showed the fragments were not Janice’s, nor any other missing person’s. Bar-Jonah was never charged in her case. He died in 2008.
The paper ghosts
Janice’s disappearance did not happen in isolation. She is one of three girls — with Debbie Spickler (1968) and Lisa White (1974) — known as the Vernon-Tolland Three, who vanished from neighboring Connecticut towns within six years of each other. Investigators have long wondered whether the cases are connected: all young, all taken in daylight from familiar ground, all in the same small corner of eastern Connecticut.
The wider cluster is darker still. Susan LaRosa, 20, vanished from Vernon in 1975; her remains were found three years later. Patricia Luce, 18, vanished in 1978; her remains were found in Marlborough in 1979. Journalist M. William Phelps, who grew up in the area, built his Paper Ghosts podcast around the cases — “paper ghosts” for the faded missing-persons posters tacked to telephone poles and storefronts for decades.
In October 2014, the Tolland County Cold Case Squad was formed in large part because of these three girls’ cases. Investigators said they had identified connections between them. Age-progressed images of Janice are updated every few years. Governor Dannel P. Malloy authorized a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in her case. In March 2019, the state’s cold case unit reported “some progress” in the 40-year-old cases. A vigil in July 2018 marked 45 years since the afternoon of the butterfly.
Janice’s mother allowed her daughter out alone for the first time that day. Her sister Mary has carried the memory for more than half a century. And somewhere — in the woods off Rhoades Road, or in a grave no one has found, or in a memory someone has never shared — is the answer to what happened in that half hour.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction by a stranger. This is the theory investigators have worked from the start, and the one the evidence best supports: the abandoned bike less than a mile from home, the blue station wagon blocking the road, the man seen walking toward her route, and a child who had no reason and no history suggesting she would run. The witness account is the spine of the case — and it never led anywhere.
Charles Pierce. His confession was detailed and, for a time, promising. But confessions from incarcerated pedophiles seeking attention or leverage are notoriously unreliable, no grave was ever located despite the specificity of his claim, and investigators ultimately dismissed him as a suspect. It remains a dead lead, not evidence.
A serial offender working the Vernon-Tolland corridor. The clustering of Janice, Debbie Spickler, and Lisa White — plus the later murders of Susan LaRosa and Patricia Luce — keeps this theory alive, and it was the premise of the 2014 cold case squad. But “connected” has never become “solved”: no suspect has been publicly tied to more than one of the girls’ disappearances.
Have information?
Contact the Tolland County Cold Case Squad at (860) 870-3228 or DCJ.TollandCounty.ColdCase@ct.gov, or the Connecticut State Police at (860) 779-4900. A $50,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- October 15, 1965 — Janice Kathryn Pockett is born in Tolland, Connecticut.
- July 26, 1973 — Janice rides her green Murray bike to retrieve a butterfly; her bike is found 30 minutes later on Rhoades Road. An 800-person search finds nothing.
- 1970s — Charles Pierce confesses to killing Janice; the claim is investigated and dismissed.
- 2000 — Bone fragments found in Nathaniel Bar-Jonah’s Montana garage; DNA rules out Janice.
- 2008 — Bar-Jonah dies; 1999 — Pierce dies in prison. Neither was ever charged in Janice’s case.
- October 2014 — Tolland County Cold Case Squad formed; investigators cite connections among the Vernon-Tolland Three.
- July 2018 — Vigil marks 45 years since Janice’s disappearance.
- March 2019 — Connecticut cold case unit reports “some progress” in the cases.
- 2022–2023 — Paper Ghosts and True Crime New England cover Janice’s case.
- Today — Still missing. $50,000 reward in effect.
FAQ
Is Janice Pockett still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Janice Pockett has been missing for 53 years. Her case is open with the Connecticut State Police and the Tolland County Cold Case Squad.
Was Janice Pockett ever found?
No. Despite one of the largest searches in Connecticut history, multiple suspects, and decades of investigation, no trace of Janice has ever been found.
How old would Janice Pockett be today?
Janice was born October 15, 1965. She turns 61 on October 15, 2026.
What is the Vernon-Tolland Three?
The name given to three girls who vanished from neighboring towns in eastern Connecticut between 1968 and 1974: Debbie Spickler (1968), Janice Pockett (1973), and Lisa White (1974). Authorities have said they see connections between the cases, though none has been solved.
Was anyone ever charged in Janice Pockett’s disappearance?
No. Charles Pierce confessed but was dismissed as a suspect and died in 1999; Nathaniel Bar-Jonah was investigated after bone fragments were found in his garage in 2000, but DNA ruled Janice out and he died in 2008. No charges have ever been filed.
Is there a reward in Janice Pockett’s case?
Yes — a $50,000 reward, authorized by Governor Dannel P. Malloy, is offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Tolland County Cold Case Squad at (860) 870-3228.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Connecticut State Police missing-person listing (NCIC M-239254040); Tolland County Cold Case Squad, portal.ct.gov; Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice cold-case tip line.
- News: The Hartford Courant, “Vigil Held For Janice Pockett, Who Disappeared 45 Years Ago” (July 26, 2018); Journal Inquirer, “Task force to review cases of 3 missing girls” (2014); Hartford Courant, “Connecticut cold case unit reports some progress in 40-year-old cases of 3 missing girls” (March 24, 2019).
- Reference: The Charley Project, “Janice Kathryn Pockett”; The Doe Network, Case File 85DFCT; NCMEC; NamUs.
- Media: Paper Ghosts podcast (M. William Phelps); True Crime New England, Episode 53: “The Disappearance of Janice Pockett” (July 2022); INFAMOUS podcast, “The Vernon-Tolland Three” (Feb 2023); Oxygen, “‘Paper Ghosts’ Podcast Investigates A Mysterious Cluster Of Rural Connecticut Abductions.”
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.