A Groton mother refuses to give up her search for whoever killed her son eight years ago, and there’s renewed hope now that a cold case squad has been assigned the case.
Darlene Hamlin will hold a vigil Saturday just across the street from the New London station where her son Anthony was supposed to board a train to Virginia on the night he was killed.
“To lose him … sometimes you kind of turn around and want to say, ‘Are you there still?’ … It’s hard. … I’m sorry. It took a lot. Whoever did this took a lot from us,” said Darlene Hamlin.
Anthony Hamlin, a father of five, was taken from his family in January 2006, eight years ago nearly to the day. Last seen in New London, his battered body was found the next morning in a Ledyard field, not far from tribal grounds.
Now, his mother says she’s ready to speak out for the first time, holding a vigil at 1 p.m. Saturday, hoping to revive the police investigation into the case.
“His children still mourn,” Darlene said. “They still ask questions.”
Questions about how and why their loving father would be brutally killed, seemingly at random.
“That’s the mystery,” Darlene Hamlin said. “We don’t know. He was on his way back to Virginia. He was catching the 11 o’clock train. He went to go get a sandwich, and from there he disappeared.”
The Hamlins say they’ve actually forgiven Anthony’s killers but that they won’t forget what they did and certainly won’t give up on seeking justice.
“We might have been quiet for a while,” Darlene said, “but now it’s time to say, ‘We will not forget you Anthony,’ that we want justice.”
Darlene says she chose to keep quiet for years, following the advice of investigators, but she became frustrated with a lack of leads. Now, however, with new state officials on the case, she expresses renewed hope that one day, Anthony’s killer or killers will be caught, a day when she can finally exhale.
“I can breathe. I haven’t breathed or took a good breath in eight years,” she said.
The family says that anyone is welcome to attend this vigil, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Parade Plaza across from Union Station in New London.