Trudy Appleby missing: New persons of interest identified in 1996 cold case
08/19/2020 11:53 am PDT
MOLINE, Ill. (TCD) --
Police in Illinois announced two new persons of interest in the 1996 missing-persons cold case of Trudy Appleby on Wednesday.
Trudy Appleby was 11 years old when her father reported her missing on August 21, 1996, according to Moline Police. Police say phone records show Appleby may have gone to swim with a friend on Campbell's Island in the Mississippi River near the city of Moline.
In 2017, Moline Police identified a person of interest in the cold case. A witness reportedly saw Appleby in a late-model silver Chevrolet 4-door vehicle with a man named William "Ed" Smith near his residence on Campbell's Island on the same day the girl went missing. Smith is now dead.
Wednesday, Moline Police identified two more persons of interest in the case: David Whipple, 59, and Jamison Fisher, 45, both Illinois residents. Police say Whipple is William Smith's son-in-law, and Fisher is a "lifelong family friend" of the Smiths.
Moline Police are asking anyone with further information in the case to call Quad Cities Crime Stoppers at (309) 762-9500 or the Moline Police Dept. at (309) 524-2140.
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