Exactly 42 years ago, a teenage girl disappeared from the Concord area. Now, authorities are asking the public to help investigate the cold case.
On July 13, 1984, 15 year old Shirley Ann “Tippy” McBride was last seen leaving her sister’s apartment on Union Street in Concord. She wore light summer clothing and left behind her money, clothing, and all other personal effects, according to a statement from the Attorney General’s office.
McBride has not been seen or heard from since that day.
The case has not been formally ruled a homicide, though the authorities suspect foul play.
Now, the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit and the Concord Police Department are asking the public to help the ongoing investigation into McBride’s disappearance.
The investigators are asking the public to look through archives of personal photographs from the summer of 1984 in the wider downtown Concord region and share any photos or information with the authorities.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Christopher Knowles, chief of the state’s cold case unit, said people may not realize how important the information they have may be to investigators.
“If there is anyone out there that has any information about Tippy or any of our cold case matters, please do reach out to the Cold Case Unit,” said Knowles. “We have investigators that will allow you to remain anonymous, if that’s your desire, but each tip that comes in is followed up upon. And in some cases we’ve seen those tips have led to actionable items that have given families answers where they’ve just been waiting.”
Knowles said decades-old cold cases like Tippy’s may benefit from the advancement of technology and photo analysis software in recent years.
“And time changes things,” he said. “As fundamental as a tree existing where it once did not or a tree no longer existing where once there was one.”
The state is currently investigating 128 cold cases. Last summer, additional funding allowed the unit to increase its number of investigators.
“Our ability to work on these cases has increased dramatically,” Knowles said. “We can now say that each of our cold cases has a dedicated investigator that’s assigned to that case and working on that case.”
If you wish to submit a photograph to the investigators, you can email them to coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov.
Anyone with information regarding the case (or any other cold cases) is urged to contact authorities:
- Cold Case Unit Tip Line: (603) 271-2663
- Email: coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov
- Online: Submit a tip at www.doj.nh.gov/criminal/cold-case
