Jeanette Bartlett only has fleeting memories of her older sister, Patty Bartlett, who is seventeen years old. She worked as a photographer. In high school, she was studying photography, and Jeanette told Dateline that she was really excellent at it. As a child, I only recall her taking me out and photographing me.
Patty discovered her passion for photography, according to Jeanette, when enrolled in a photo science course at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. Jeanette said that Patty had been awarded a scholarship to pursue photography after high school, saying, “She just really took to it.” She was never able to go.
In the Bartlett family, Patty was the second of four siblings. According to Jeff, Dateline’s older brother, Patty was a senior in high school in 1975 and was constantly surrounded by pals. He remarked, “I have pleasant memories with my sister.”
The youngest member of the Bartlett family is Jeanette.
She is breathtakingly gorgeous. Jeanette remarked that she was slim, had long dark hair, and simply smiled. And it seemed like everyone simply loved her.
Tragic events occurred while Jeanette was just five years old.
Fifty years have passed since then.
Patty Bartlett was killed on January 13, 1975, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, at the Oxford Valley Mall parking lot. That evening, she had visited a camera store at the Middletown Township mall to pick up some things. “She ran to the mall to grab items so she could take pictures because it was going to snow—there was snow in the forecast,” Jeanette recounted.
Patty made her purchases and then made her way back to the parking lot. “It was dusk,” Jeff said. Jeanette said that she had been attacked.
The Oxford Valley Mall is a well-liked shopping destination in a secure neighborhood, according to Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, who spoke to Dateline. However, what transpired in the parking lot that evening was utterly horrifying. According to Schorn, Patti was stabbed several times. No weapon was found at the location, and no witnesses were present when the crime was committed. There would be problems from the beginning if there were no murder weapon and no eyewitnesses—any eyewitnesses—to a suspected criminal escaping.
According to Jeff, I have actually strolled around the mall and followed her path. The fact that no one saw anything still amazes me.
Patty did attempt to seek assistance. According to Schorn, she attempted to enter the mall’s entrance. Someone noticed Patty at that moment and asked for assistance. According to the DA, the Middletown Township Police were called around 5:30 p.m.
According to Jeanette, Patty’s sister, she battled for her life. She claimed to have struggled for fifty minutes. Her blood loss was simply too great.
Before she passed away, Patty didn’t communicate if she knew or could describe her assailant. To be fair, I don’t believe it was requested, but Schorn stated that it was obviously not communicated. One of the cops apologized for not questioning Patty because, you know, the emergency medical staff was trying to help her and treat her.
When the phone rang that evening, Jeff was at his girlfriend’s house with her family. To break the heartbreaking news to his girlfriend’s father that his daughter Jeff’s girlfriend had been killed, an officer was on the line. “That’s impossible,” he said the policeman on the phone, “because she’s right in front of me.” It appeared to be some sort of mix-up.
After a while, there was another call. Jeff’s father was there. “What’s wrong, Dad?” I asked. Jeff recalled. And he adds, “Come home, Jeff.” Jeff returned home. He claimed that when I arrived home, all of the police officers were in the driveway. It was surprising all around. It was the worst day of my life, really.
The situation back at Jeff’s girlfriend’s residence quickly became apparent. He claimed that Patty clearly had my girlfriend’s license. Jeanette clarified the possibility that Patty has Jeff’s girlfriend’s identification. “Across the bridge,” she remarked, “you could drink at eighteen back in the day.”
Jeanette’s memory of Patty’s murder is limited. I was young. She remarked, “I just remember lights and the sirens that evening.”
Everyone was in a panic. Something was going on, and I sensed it. It’s really strange. I recall sitting on the couch and watching I Love Lucy. Before anyone really knew, I started crying as I went to the cellar door where she used to chat on the phone because I felt like something wasn’t right. I was aware that something was amiss.
The funeral is what Jeff recalls most from the days that followed. According to Jeff, thousands attended Patty’s viewing. The number of attendees was astounding.
For the family, dealing with Patty’s murder was incredibly difficult. We all went through hell in different ways because we were all different ages, Jeanette said. I had a difficult time at school. She also struggled with nightmares and trauma in the years that followed. My parents were rocks, she said. I don t know how they did it, but they did. Big brother Jeff agrees. My mom and dad took good care of us, he said.
And as the Bartlett family attempted to pick up the pieces, the Middletown Township Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney s Office worked to solve the case.
The scene was processed, DA Schorn told Dateline. In speaking to the detectives that are presently handling the case that I mean, they praised the work that was done by Middletown Township and, you know, the officers and detectives assigned at the time.
Schorn says authorities do not believe Patty was killed in a botched robbery. Her wallet and purse were untouched, she said. This is not a robbery. That was not the motive.
The DA said the officers assigned to the initial investigation did the best they could. I mean, they did a thorough job, she said. This is, like, a remarkably challenging type of investigation given the circumstances and given the limitations in the 70s.
Jeff has talked with different detectives assigned to the case over the years. They ve done everything they could, he said. They just said it was just a dead-end.
I wish I was there with her to protect her, Jeff lamented.
Patty had a frightening experience shortly before her death. She worked at this place called Coco s, not far from our house, and somebody followed her home, Jeanette said. That happened, like, a week before the murder.
I know that she was scared, Jeanette added. The DA s office told Dateline they looked into it, but there wasn t much they could do. They also told Dateline that one of Patty s coworkers from the restaurant had seen her with an unknown male just a few days before the murder. They had a sketch made, but ultimately were never able to identify the person Patty had been seen with.
DA Schorn says the Middletown Township Police Department and county detectives have developed some persons of interest and theories of the crime over the past five decades. She would not go into specifics or discuss the evidence that was collected at the time, but emphasizes detectives are dedicated to analyzing what they have. The highly-skilled detectives who know the resources available in the forensic science world have scrutinized the evidence and will continue to scrutinize the evidence as there are developments with regards to DNA, she said. Sadly, in many cases, we find it s very unlikely that a piece of forensic evidence ends up being what is the successful key to solving the case.
And while time can sometimes be a detective s enemy, the DA says, In some cases, time has become our friend. She s hoping that in Patty s case it will. The key, she believes, is continuing to keep a case like Patty s in the public eye. Sometimes that s what it takes to have someone, you know, realize: The time is now, I need to come forward, she said. I mean, someone knows something. Someone does.
Schorn hopes that person finds the strength to come forward so they can provide some measure of closure to Patty s family. No bit of information is too small or — if you think you know something, don t think, Oh, it s probably not relevant, she said. Let the detectives sort through the information.
Given the age of the case, Jeanette Bartlett knows the person who murdered her sister may never face justice.
A lot of these people are already passed away. But it doesn t matter to me, she said. I want to know who. I want to know why.
Jeff Bartlett agrees with his sister, but takes comfort in one thing: The good Lord will take care of the guy that did that to her.
Anyone with information about the murder of Patty Bartlett is urged to contact Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6354 or the Middletown Township Police Department at 215-750-3870.
Tips can also be left through CrimeWatch atwww.bucksda.orgor with the Middletown Township Police Department atwww.mtpd.orgon the anonymous tips link or on the anonymous tip phone line at 215-750-3888.
If you have a story to share with Dateline, pleasesubmit it here.