Death at Devil’s Teeth
The Murder of Jeanette DePalma
Springfield, New Jersey is in the shadows of New York City. A lovely upper-middle-class town up in the hills and surrounded by trees. A beautiful place to raise a family. It’s the town the DePalma Family chose to settle in to raise their five daughters and three sons, including their sixteen-year-old daughter, Jeanette DePalma.
Jeanette DePalma
Jeanette DePalma had only just turned 16-years-old. She was raised in a happy Italian household among her siblings and her parents, Salvatore and Florence. The DePalma Family was a church-going family and Jeanette was known to be a devout Christian and true to her faith. Her reputation in the community was excellent.
On August 7, 1972, Jeanette DePalma informed her mother that she was going to hitchhike to catch the train to a friend’s house. While hitchhiking is a highly frowned upon practice today due to its inherent dangers, it was a common practice in the 1970s. Jeanette also let her mother know that after visiting with her friend she had planned to go to work that afternoon.
Later, it was discovered that Jeanette DePalma had never made it to her friend’s house. After Jeanette still had not arrived home later in the night her parents decided to report her as missing to the police.
