Bench Honoring Janice Pockett to be Dedicated July 26

The Tolland 300th Anniversary Committee is dedicating a bench in honor of Janice Pockett during a solemn ceremony on July 26.

The following news release has been issued regarding the ceremony: 

On the 40th anniversary of her disappearance on Rhodes Road, 7-year-old Janice Pockett will be remembered when the Tolland 300th Anniversary Committee dedicates a bench in her honor during a solemn ceremony on July 26.

The event, set for 7 p.m. at Cross Farms Recreation Complex, will feature a blessing from Pastor Weston Brooks from the River of Life Christian Fellowship in Tolland and remarks from Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman; Janice’s sister, Mary Engelbrecht, and M. William Phelps, star and creator of the Discovery channel’s “Dark Minds” program.

The public is invited to attend the event, which will also feature music by Aftyn Bartholomay and Will Pratt and a release of butterflies. Janice was last seen riding her bike from her Anthony Road home to retrieve a butterfly that she had placed under a rock a few days before. It was the first time her mother had let her ride her bike alone.

Her disappearance on July 26, 1973 shocked the small town and led Tolland parents to keep their children closer to home.

Sharon Hiller, chairwoman of the anniversary committee’s religious subcommittee, led the fundraising drive to purchase the memorial bench. Many Tolland residents and businesses made the bench possible, including Gardner & Peterson Associates, which donated $1,500 for its purchase. 

“We did not want this anniversary to pass without acknowledging that it was an important event in our town’s history,’’ Hiller said. “Janice will always be remembered by Tolland residents.”

For days after Janice’s disappearance on July 26, 1973, police and as many as 800 volunteers combed the area south of the highway on foot and horseback, looking for her. The FBI investigated the case in 1974. 

Though suspects have been questioned over the years and a carnival worker confessed to killing Janice, the case has never been solved.

Phelps recently featured the case on his show. 

For more information on the event, call Sharon Hiller at 860-870-9687.