In the summer of 1972, a quiet suburban town in New Jersey became the focus of one of the state’s strangest unsolved deaths. Sixteen-year-old Jeannette Christine DePalma left home one August afternoon and never returned.
She told her mother she was going to a friend’s house by train. The friend never saw her. By the next day, with no sign of her daughter, Jeannette’s mother reported her missing to Springfield Police.
For six weeks, the search brought no answers. Then, on 19 September, a local dog returned to its owner carrying something horrifying in its mouth — a decomposing human forearm and hand.
Police traced the remains back to their source. They were found at the top of a cliff inside Springfield’s Houdaille Quarry. Locals had long called the cliff “the Devil’s Teeth”.
Strange scene on the cliff
Several witnesses later claimed Jeannette’s skeletal remains lay inside a coffin-shaped border of branches and logs. Small wooden crosses were placed around her body, though the exact arrangement varied depending on who was telling the story.
Some residents went further, insisting she had been placed on a pentagram and surrounded by mutilated animal remains. These more dramatic claims were denied by law enforcement.
The location’s grim nickname, combined with these unsettling descriptions, immediately fuelled suspicions. The public was primed to believe something sinister had taken place on that cliff.
Autopsy without answers
The autopsy could not determine an exact cause of death. Jeannette had no broken bones, no bullet wounds, no knife injuries. No drug paraphernalia was found on or near the body.
Despite this, the coroner suspected she had been strangled. It could not be confirmed, but the Union County Prosecutor’s Office decided to treat the case as an unsolved homicide.
The coroner also found unusually high levels of lead in her remains. This detail offered no clear explanation, but it deepened the mystery surrounding her death.
The first suspect disappears
In the early days of the investigation, police received a tip about a homeless man living near the quarry. Known locally as “Red”, he was said to have fled his camp shortly after Jeannette vanished.
The lead seemed promising, but it collapsed. Authorities concluded “Red” had no connection to the case. Attention shifted, yet no new solid suspects emerged.
Rumours take hold
Two weeks after Jeannette’s remains were found, newspapers including the Newark Star-Ledger and the New York Daily News ran sensational headlines. They suggested she might have been the victim of an occult sacrifice.
Theories pointed to Satanists or a local coven of witches said to meet in nearby Watchung Reservation. The claims were partly driven by Reverend James Tate, pastor of the DePalma family’s Assemblies of God church.
Reverend Tate openly speculated about ritual killing. His statements, paired with rumours of strange objects at the scene, sparked fear in several Union County communities.
The area was still recovering from the John List family murders, which had occurred less than a year before. Public anxiety was already high.
Police theories and contradictions
Some officers quietly suggested Jeannette might have died of a drug overdose. But there was no evidence of drug use, aside from reports she occasionally smoked marijuana socially.
The autopsy report made no mention of an overdose. Medical examiner Bernard Ehrenberg went on record saying he suspected strangulation and could not rule it out.
As weeks passed, the investigation struggled. Witness accounts were inconsistent, tips were scarce, and the trail was going cold.
Years of silence
By the late 1990s, the case had faded from public attention. Then, Weird NJ magazine received anonymous letters about Jeannette’s death. The story began to resurface.
Editor Mark Moran started investigating. He reported claims that Springfield Police had lost or destroyed the case file. Officials said it was lost in 1999 during flooding from Hurricane Floyd.
Some believed a copy still existed. The uncertainty only added to the aura of secrecy surrounding the case.
New research and revelations
Moran teamed up with journalist Jesse P. Pollack. Their collaboration led to the 2015 book Death on the Devil’s Teeth, which examined the case in depth.
They uncovered possible links to other unsolved murders, previously unknown suspects, and hints of a cover-up. The picture they painted was far more complex than the original investigation suggested.
In September 2024, Weird NJ obtained the original case file from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. They reviewed the photographs from the crime scene.
Their conclusion was striking. The images, they said, showed no evidence of occult activity. There were no stick crosses, no stone circles, no animal remains.
A failed attempt at DNA
Campaigner Edward Salzano later sued the prosecutor’s office to have Jeannette’s clothing tested for DNA. He received a box of documents from Jeannette’s nephew, John Bancey, before Bancey’s death.
The box contained the FBI crime lab report and the medical examiner’s findings. In 1972, stains on Jeannette’s underwear, bra, blouse, and slacks were tested, but they were too decomposed for conclusive blood or semen results.
Keeping the case alive
The non-profit Justice for Jeannette DePalma continues to campaign for the case to be officially recognised as a homicide. The group’s members say they will keep searching for answers, even as the fifty-year mark passes.
In 2021, The New York Daily News reported on the organisation’s work. The following year, The Daily Beast ran an updated article on the case. In 2024, The Mirror followed suit.
The book A Long Walk Home also urged the case’s reclassification, noting similarities between Jeannette’s death and the killings of Joan Kramer and Carol Ann Farino.
A serial killer’s claim
In 2021, convicted serial killer Richard Cottingham — known as the “Torso Killer” — made a disturbing suggestion. In letters to journalist Jesse P. Pollack, he hinted he may have abducted and killed Jeannette while she was hitchhiking.
Cottingham agreed to speak to investigators if they met with him. His statements were later included in the 2022 updated edition of Death on the Devil’s Teeth.
By December 2022, there had been no public updates from law enforcement about the claim.
Media spotlight
Jeannette’s story has been featured in the Hulu documentary series Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal, in an episode titled “Jersey Witch Hunt”. The programme examined the case alongside the work of Justice for Jeannette.
The renewed media attention has ensured her case remains part of New Jersey’s public consciousness, even if the truth remains elusive.
A mystery with no closure
More than half a century has passed since Jeannette DePalma’s body was found. Theories have ranged from ritual killing to random violence to the claim of a serial murderer.
Officially, her death remains unsolved. Unofficially, it has become part of the state’s modern folklore — a case where fact and speculation remain tightly intertwined.
The cliff known as the Devil’s Teeth still looms over Springfield, a silent witness to a young girl’s final moments. Whether the truth will ever emerge is still an open question.
For Jeannette’s family, and those still fighting on her behalf, the hope is that one day, evidence will be found that can finally deliver answers — and justice.
