Episode 102: The Murder of Mary Olenchuk
Mary Olenchuk was born on November 18th, 1956, to her parents Peter, who was a major general in the US army, and his wife Ruth. She was the youngest child to her two older sisters Jane and Nancy. Mary and her family lived on an army base in Joliet, Illinois, and the family left for Maine in June every year to go to their summer home in Ogunquit. Mary attended St. Rose School in Wilmington, Illinois, and she went to weekly Girl Scout meetings. She was known as being polite and shy as well as athletic and a devout Catholic.
On August 9th, 1970, 13-year-old Mary Olenchuk spent the day at Little Beach in Ogunquit, Maine with her mom and oldest sister before heading home to get changed and head into town on a bike she borrowed from a neighbor. A witness at the Lookout Hotel just 200 yards from Mary’s home saw Mary biking back with a maroon car following her. The car appeared to be a ‘67 Chevy with a scratched hood, and the driver was a white male in his 30’s with dark hair and clothing.
The witness said that Mary appeared to be giving the man directions and after talking for a few minutes, Mary left her bike at the hotel and got in the car with him at about 5:00pm. When Mary didn’t return home her mother called police and a massive search began and expanded over the next two weeks.
On August 22nd, 1970, Mary’s body was found under a pile of hay in a barn in Kennebunk, Maine. She had been strangled with a piece of lobster rope but there was no evidence of sexual assault. Police feel one of the thousands of tourists in the area may be responsible, however others feel it must have been someone local.
Two days before Mary’s disappearance her dad Peter, a general with the US army, was appointed to be in charge of controversial Operation CHASE (“Cut Holes And Sink 'Em"), a United States Department of Defense program for the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea. Just one day before her disappearance a newspaper received a threat that families of those involved with the operation would be kidnapped. Some think this is a coincidence but some feel as though Mary’s murder is related to her father’s involvement in the operation.
This case is one of Maine’s oldest cold cases, and anyone with any information on the murder of Mary Olenchuk is asked to please call the Maine State Police at 1-800-228-0857.
Image sources:
maine.gov - “Unsolved Homicides - Olenchuk, Mary C.”
newspapers.com - “Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Mon. August 24th, 1970”