MONROE, CT — A candlelight vigil will keep Renee Freer’s memory alive 48 years after the eight-year-old’s tragic murder in a wooded area near her Williams Road home. Police continue to investigate the case, which remains unsolved.
The vigil will be held on the green outside Monroe Congregational Church, 34 Church St., on June 26, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
“Please join us as we celebrate the life of Renee, reflecting on her radiant smile, and the joy she brought to our lives,” said Renae Rodden of Texas, a producer/podcast host of a series of episodes about Renee Freer.
“We would like people to know about the podcast, as it’s in a last ditch effort to bring about tips to solve the case,” Rodden said. “I am working with the ladies who planned the vigil.”
The vigil was planned by the 77ers, a group of women who care deeply about Renee Freer case and about getting justice.
“Let us remember her legacy while raising awareness about the vital need for justice and healing within our community,” Rodden said.
On June 22, 1977, Freer’s battered body was found in a wooded area, about 300 yards from her family’s home, near a blood covered rock believed to be the murder weapon.
Monroe detectives followed every lead over the years and developed a person of interest, a male juvenile known to Renee, but did not have enough evidence to charge anyone for the crime.
Decades later, there was renewed public interest in the case when author Erik C. Hanson, who grew up in Monroe, published a book on the Freer murder entitled, “Dead End Road.”
Then in March of this year, Kristen Seavey, an actress and true crime fan, featured the case in her “Murder, She Told” podcast: “The Unsolved Murder of Renee Freer.”
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