California governor offers reward in murder of N.L. woman
California Gov. Jerry Brown recently approved a $50,000 reward in a 45-year-old cold case involving the murder of a Newfoundland-born woman.
On Oct. 26, 1970, Phyllis O’Brien Carson, a 32-year-old wife and mother of four who was from Stephenville, was reported missing by her husband after she failed to return from a local bar in French Camp, Calif., a news release from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said.
Four weeks after Carson was reported missing, her badly decomposed body was found in a rural area near French Camp, the sheriff’s office said. The office said it has pursued and exhausted all investigative leads and, to date, the O’Brien Carson killing remains unsolved.
The news release was sent to The Telegram by O’Brien Carson’s daughter, Melissa Carson, who previously spoke about her mother’s murder.
The $50,000 reward is for new information leading to the conviction in a California court of any person who has committed, or is charged with the commission of, an offence punishable by death for O’Brien Carson’s murder.
“I want to be able to send this to the world, to get her story out there,” Melissa Carson said in an email to The Telegram.
San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore sent a letter to the governor requesting the reward, and asked three state assembly members for their formal support, which they provided. The request was also supported by O’Brien Carson’s family.