On 10th anniversary, N.H. authorities seek clues in slaying of White Mountains hiker
New Hampshire authorities are seeking the public’s help in solving the decade-old mystery of a Canadian hiker who came to the state to trek through the White Mountains but was murdered, her body dumped off the side of a trail.
Louise Chaput, 52, left her home in Sherbrooke, Quebec, crossing into the United States in Norton, Vt., at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, 2001. She stopped at the Pic Quick III convenience store in Colebrook, N.H., at 12:50 p.m., according to a credit card receipt later found in her car, New Hampshire State Police and prosecutors said today in a statement.
At about 3 p.m., an employee at the AMC Visitor Center in Pinkham’s Grant spoke to a woman he later identified as Chaput. He said she asked him where she could go for a short hike. He told her to try the Lost Pond Trail. She was never seen alive again, said the statement issued by New Hampshire Attorney General Michael A. Delaney and State
An intensive search was launched. On Nov. 20, her silver Ford Focus was found parked at the head of a different trail, the Diretissima Trail. On Nov. 22, 10 years ago today, her body was found off the side of a third trail, the Glen Boulder Trail. An autopsy determined she had died of multiple stabs and cuts.
New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin said it appeared Chaput simply wanted to take a late afternoon hike and get back to the lodge, where she had a reservation, before dark.
“It appears she went out on a hike and that’s when she was intercepted and killed,’’ he said.
A search of Chaput’s car found her dark blue “Kanuk’’ sleeping bag and a blue backpack with a Canadian insignia on it were missing. Her car keys and a pendant with an “S’’ design have never been found, the statement said. Other items may also have been stolen, authorities said.
Strelzin said investigators are hoping the 10th anniversary appeal for help may reach witnesses who have information about Chaput’s actions on that day but may never even have heard of the crime.
Visitors from all over come to the lodge and, since Chaput was missing for a week, may not even be aware they have some valuable information, he said.
Strelzin, the chief of the attorney general’s homicide division, said it was one of the first murder cases he’d worked on.
“I know the detectives who worked on the case,’’ he said. “People really felt a connection to Louuise Chaput’s family and would like to solve the case for them.’’
Authorities asked anyone with information on the case to contact the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit at 603-223-3856 or e-mail the unit at [email protected].
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