Help Us Solve Cold Cases

On September 17, 1979, at approximately 9:00 p.m., 19-year-old Oberlin College student Carol Gandelman was riding her bicycle back to her Keep Cottage residence after purchasing groceries at Gibson’s Bakery. While on North Main Street near Langston Middle School, Gandelman was struck by a vehicle. She sustained severe injuries from the incident and, tragically, succumbed to them five days later.

Witnesses at the scene reported that the vehicle involved in the collision continued driving northbound on North Main Street and may have turned eastbound onto Walnut Street, where it eventually disappeared from sight. According to eyewitness descriptions, the suspect vehicle was a large, green, American-made car, distinguished by its square-shaped lights. A resident of North Main Street who heard the crash reported hearing a loud, excited voice exclaiming, “She just came out of nowhere, let’s get the hell out of here” from the front of his residence. This voice was described as belonging to a white male, likely in his teens to early 20s at the time of the incident.

Despite a thorough search of the area by officers and media broadcasts of the vehicle's description, the suspect vehicle was never located.

On November 2, 1962, at approximately 1:25 p.m., 77-year-old Windom Durham was found deceased in his residence at 249 Lincoln Street. This discovery was made after a neighbor, noticing suspicious conditions, requested a welfare check. It appeared that Durham had suffered a severe beating and had been bound and gagged during a robbery that took place within his home. The time of death was estimated to be around 8 a.m. on November 2, 1962, with asphyxiation determined as the cause. Neighbors last saw Durham alive at approximately 2 p.m. on November 1, 1962. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, several individuals were interviewed, but no arrests have been made or charges filed in connection with Windom Durham’s murder.