MIDDLETOWN -- Middletown Police are continuing to investigate the death of a teen that happened 30 years ago.
"There is always hope. We need to do this for Lisa, for her family, and we need to have justice brought forward," said Lt. Heather Desmond with the Middletown Police Department.
Berry left her house and turned into Highlands Crescent, then took a right onto West Lake Drive. According to police, while Berry was running, she was seen by and talked to many people on the route.
Authorities say there were no visible signs of struggle or trauma to her body, one of her sneakers was found away from her body. Once Lisa was found, Middletown Police began an intensive investigation into her murder. The department interviewed many individuals. Family members, neighborhood residents, local criminals and others were interviewed. There are persons of interest in this incident.
Fox Connecticut spoke to one Middletown resident on Saturday who lived on the same street as Berry at the time of her disappearance.
Melaine Phillip was a 15-year-old teen living at her parents Braeburn Lane home in 1985, and recalls seeing a police presence after the killing.
"Police came and knocked on our door and asked if us if we knew or knew anything about it," said Melanie Phillip,
Members of the Middletown Police department have never stopped investigating this case. As time went on detectives retired and new investigators were assigned to investigate this case.
"I know one of the police officers at Middletown had gone to high school with Lisa Berry, they had said this is a case they really want to get solved. This kind of became of our project for the summer," said Erica Oates, a law intern for the Chief State's Attorney office in Middletown.
The Lisa Berry Murder case is still being investigated and police need anyone with any information to contact them with it.
The Middletown Police Department has been working closely with A.S.A. Peter McShane along with his staff and interns to solve this case. The Forensic Science Laboratory for the State of Connecticut has also been assisting the Middletown Police Department.
Middletown Police Detectives will be reviewing the case as advancements in DNA technology have improved dramatically over the past 30 years and we will be submitting the evidence from the case to the state lab for further analysis.
"We can have it re-tested and analyzed further and see what we can see, because back then, it was not as precise as it is now," said Lt. Heather Desmond of the Middletown Police Department.
Lisa has been dead, murdered for 30 years. She was just 18 years old and died a horrible death at the hands of a violent offender. She had a bright future and had been accepted at Amherst University and received scholarship to attend that college.
The Lisa Berry case is detailed as the Ace of Diamonds in the second edition of the cold case deck of cards issued in cooperation with the State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice and Department of Corrections.
MIDDLETOWN POLICE UNSOLVED MURDER
DATE OF INCIDENT: JULY 31ST, 1985—LISA BERRY GOES MISSING
AUGUST 1ST, 1985—MIDDLETOWN POLICE INVESTIGATION BEGINS
AUGUST 1ST, 1985—LISA BERRY IS FOUND DEAD, DROWNED IN A PERC HOLE OFF OF WEST LAKE DRIVE IN MIDDLETOWN. FOUND IN 4 FEET OF WATER
VICTIM: LISA BERRY, 18 YEARS OLD
CAUSE OF DEATH: ASPHXIA BY DROWNING
MANNER OF DEATH: HOMICIDE
By Christopher J. Lyons