Homicide Investigation—

State Police Analyzing Evidence Gathered

In Hawleyville Excavation

By Andrew Gorosko

Workers this week were restoring an excavated residential backyard at 15 Farrell Road in Hawleyville, where state police detectives have spent the past two weeks seeking physical evidence linked to the 1984 disappearance and possible homicide of a Sherman woman.

A series of state dump trucks proceeded on Farrell Road hauling earthen fill to the site from which an estimated 500 cubic yards of sandy soil had been removed in the state police investigation into the unsolved disappearance of Mary Badaracco of Sherman.

During the course of their digging, the workers removed several motor vehicles that had been buried in the backyard, according to neighbors.

State police are now analyzing the investigatory value of various physical objects that they have excavated from the backyard.

The current residents of the property are not subjects of the homicide investigation, state police have said. State police used a search warrant to gain access and excavate the property. That warrant has been sealed by a judge in Danbury Superior Court because the investigation into Ms Badaracco’s death is ongoing.

State police spokesman Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said Wednesday, “We’re still working there, doing a couple things.”

“We’ve made progress,” he said of investigators’ work in seeking clues to Ms Badaracco’s suspected homicide.

The lieutenant said that investigators have found no corpse or any body parts buried in the backyard. “We have not found the victim,” he said.

“We have made progress through interviews and [obtaining] information,” Lt Vance said. He declined to be specific about that progress.

Lt Vance said that the excavation has proven useful in state police’s investigation into what happened to Ms Badaracco. State police have spoken with a number of witnesses in the case who have provided them with useful information, he said.

The state will restore the excavated backyard to its previous physical condition when it is finished with its investigatory work there, he said.

Ms Badaracco has been missing since August 1984 and is believed to be a homicide victim. She was last seen at her Sherman home, according to state police. The woman’s date of birth is March 11, 1946, so she was 38 when she was reported missing.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Ms Badaracco’s disappearance and/or homicide.

Lt Vance has encouraged the public to contact the state police’s Western District Major Crime Squad at Troop A in Southbury if they have information on the Badaracco case. The telephone number is 800-376-1554.

In a recent statement, the Badaracco family said, “This is the first substantial lead in all these 23 years that could lead to physical evidence being unearthed. Who buries a car, let alone three or four cars, unless they are hiding something? … Our mother’s case must be investigated until investigators are … certain all evidence has been found and all leads have been exhausted.”

Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe said this week that local police are not involved in the Badaracco homicide investigation.