Renewed plea for tips on 30th anniversary of woman’s brutal slaying

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Thirty years. No answers.

Windsor police are renewing their plea for tips in the brutal murder of Diane Dobson, whose battered body was dumped on the city’s west side in February 1995.

“We know there are people who have information about this murder,” Windsor police Staff Sgt. Ted Novak told reporters at a news conference Friday, marking the 30th anniversary of Dobson’s death.

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“We are urging them to come forward, even if they have previously spoken to investigators.”

Dobson, 36, a mother of three, vanished on Valentine’s Day 1995.

She was last seen around 5:45 p.m. walking down Prince Road after leaving her home. The next morning, around 8:30 a.m., an instrument technician discovered her body near an air monitoring station in Brighton Beach.

Police said Dobson died from a violent attack, with a “blow to the head” causing her death.

On Friday, officials with the Windsor Police Service’s major crimes unit announced it will resubmit evidence to Ontario’s Centre of Forensic Sciences and leverage new DNA technology to help identify potential suspects.

“Advances in forensic technology may provide new leads that were previously unattainable,” Novak said. “We’re hoping that advances in science (will allow) a profile to be compared to the data bank or to a possible suspect. Then we can go and get DNA from the suspect and compare it to the crime scene.”

In the decades following Dobson’s murder, police have chased several leads — only to hit dead ends. 

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In 1997, investigators thought they had found the primary crime scene at a flophouse on Ojibway Parkway, but the large bloodstain they focused on ended up being of “non-human origin.”

Another potential break came with a bloodstain found in a cube van, but DNA results ruled out any link to Dobson.

“We hope the anniversary of this murder will help renew the interest in this tragic incident and lead to a breakthrough in the case,” Novak said. “The end goal is justice for the family and finding the person responsible to hold them accountable.”

Asked about new leads in the past five years, Novak told reporters there were none. He said the priority for police has been to review all cold cases, including Dobson’s, and to digitize files for easier access.

“Our investigators are talking to people,” said Novak. “We’re knocking on doors now. We’ve spoken to the family. The family is aware that we’re looking at this actively and going to the public for help.”

Despite setbacks, investigators believe that even after 30 years, there are still people who hold information that could help bring Dobson’s killer to light.

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“We’re pleading to the public and people from 1995, who were friends and family of Diane Dobson, to come forward and speak with us,” Novak said. “We know there was some fear of retaliation or people who were just worried about speaking to the police at that time, (but) we want them to come forward and tell their story.”

Anyone with information about Dobson’s homicide can call Windsor police at 519-255-6700, ext. 4803 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 519-258-8477. Online tips can also be made at catchcrooks.com.

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