The Unsolved Murder of Christine Cole: A 31-Year Investigation

The Disappearance of Christine Cole

• 💔 Christine Cole, a 10-year-old girl from Pucket, Rhode Island, vanished after being sent to the store on January 6th, 1988.
• 🥶 She was last seen walking in the dark, in sub-zero temperatures, to purchase milk and clams, a task that took over four hours to report her missing.
• ❓ Christine had a history of running away, but her mother stated she always returned home.

Discovery and Initial Investigation

• 🌊 Christine's body was discovered 54 days later on February 28th, 1988, washed ashore on a beach in Warwick, Rhode Island, approximately 15 miles from her home.
• ⚠️ The initial autopsy indicated death by asphyxiation with submersion, but the medical examiner could not determine if the drowning was accidental or if asphyxiation occurred before entering the water, leading authorities to treat the death as suspicious.
• 🔍 Despite extensive searches and initial police theories of death by exposure, no definitive cause or suspect emerged, and the case went cold for decades.

A Suspect Emerges and Fades

• 💡 In November 2018, the Pucket Police Department launched a cold case initiative, including a deck of playing cards sold to inmates, which eventually led to new evidence.
• 🩸 Testing of male blood found on Christine's pants yielded a familial DNA match to Joel Monttero, a man who lived in Christine's neighborhood.
• ⚖️ Monttero was arrested in July 2019 and charged with murder, but the charges were dropped in January 2020 due to insufficient evidence, as the Y STR DNA match could include thousands of paternal male relatives.

Legal Battles and Lingering Questions

• 🏛️ Monttero filed a civil complaint against the city and police department, alleging false arrest, fabrication of evidence, and suppression of information.
• 📱 A judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed, citing text messages between a forensic scientist and a detective that indicated a miscommunication about the DNA evidence being a familial match, not a unique one.
• ❓ The judge also noted omissions from the arrest warrant affidavit, including information about Monttero's residency and an interview with a prison inmate, suggesting potential bias and overstatement of evidence.
• unsolved Christine's case remains unsolved, with authorities continuing to work towards a conviction, while Monttero's lawsuit seeks to address alleged misconduct.