In 1986, pretty Jane Prichard,
28, of Clarksburg, Md. was a graduate student
at the University of Maryland. As part of her program she was to conduct botany
experiments in the field. On September 19,a Saturday, she drove up to the Blackbird
Forest State Park, in Delaware, 115 miles from her home, to conduct her work.
She arrived at around 7 a.m.
She had been to the park many
times and had spent many hours there in past.
A squirrel hunter named Michael
P. Lloyd recalled seeing her at 10 AM.
At 5:30 p.m, an elderly New Jersey couple who were camping
in the forest, went for a walk and found Prichard’s body sprawled near her truck,
a 1980 Chevy Blazer. She was partially disrobed, with a gunshot to her back.
The body was about 20 feet from her equipment, and the shot to the back would indicate
that she had gotten away from her attacker and ran for the truck when she was
shot with a shotgun. There was no sign of a struggle.
Detectives figured that Jane’s
murder was a crime of opportunity and the suspect was one of the 25 to 50
hunters that were at the park that day, as it was the start of squirrel hunting
season. She worked undisturbed for a while because she had an opportunity to
set up her equipment. Then the intruder
arrived. She was sexually assaulted, or in the process of being sexually
assaulted when she ran for her car.
Michael P. Lloyd, the squirrel
hunter was home watching the news when he learned about the murder. He had been
there that day and recalled seeing Jane
Prichard. He phoned the police and gave
them a description of a man he had seen there. "I thought it was my civic
duty." He said later. When the police asked him to comedown to the scene
of the crime, he did. He said he saw Prichard talking to another hunter at
around 10 AM and that the man was a white
male, around 5'9" with a medium build and wearing a brown jacket and blue
jeans. He helped them to create a drawing. But instead of thanking him, the
police made him their number one suspect.
Remarkably
he was charged with first-degree murder and weapon possession. Mike Lloyd, a
janitor, was released from prison after ten months after his bail was reduced
to $10,000. The next day the state announced it would drop the charges for lack
of evidence. What actually happened was
that the cops case fell apart when DNA testing of a hair found at the
scene proved conclusively that he could not be the killer.
"I
would never make that mistake again" (Trying to help the police) Mike Lloyd said when he was released from
prison. "My advice is, 'Don't get involved. When I first got out I had to
pinch myself," he said. "It wasn't till Sunday when I drove my truck
that it finally dawned on me. Yeah. I'm out."
Michael P. Lloyd died on his sleep in
2016 at age 50. He was still married to his high school sweet-heart and still working at Faith
Technologies, the same company he worked for when he was arrested, but as a journeyman
electrician.
The case is still open.