Katherine Lillian Armstrong Never Made It To Choir Practice On Halloween Night.

Katherine Lillian Armstrong was often known by her middle name. Lillian was a very proud, very independent woman.

She never married and had lived alone for all her life in Doncaster House in New Castle.

In 1957 she retired from her job as headmistress at the city’s Denton Road Junior School.

She was a devout Methodist and would sing with the choir at the Central Methodist Church, on Newcastle’s Northumberland Road. She had regular choir practice at 7:30pm every Thursday night.

On Thursday, October 31st, 1963, Lillian was last seen by two children who saw her looking out of her window at around 6:30pm. She never made it to choir practice that evening.

The next morning at 10:30, Lillian’s cousin who lived nearby, Ada Ridley, went to visit Lillian. Ada became concerned when there was no answer to her repeated knocks. Lillian was a habitual early riser and should have answered the door by now. Also something that Ada found peculiar, all of the curtains were closed. Ada had a feeling something was wrong and decided to call the police.

When officers arrived, they had to force their way into Lillian's house. Once inside they found Lillian's body near the bottom of the stairs. She was fully clothed, wearing a dress and carpet slippers, and had a nylon stocking tied tightly around her neck. Her face and neck were also heavily bloodstained. Defensive wounds on her hands indicated that Lillian had fought back against her attacker and it was theorized that she might have fought so valiantly as to make her attacker bleed. Blood was found throughout the entire house. There was no sign of forced entry and appeared that there had been nothing taken from the house. There was no murder weapon found at the scene and no fingerprints or footprints either.

The autopsy revealed that Lillian had been stabbed no less than 28 times to her face and neck and that her death was due to the blood loss. 

The murder weapon was thought to have been a long-bladed instrument of some kind. Police worked on the theory that the killer would have discarded the after leaving the scene and scoured the area to no avail. Police had also went to over 5,000 houses questioning the occupants, but that turned up fruitless as well. By November 4th Scotland Yard was brought in.

Police were considering the possibility that more than one person could have been involved in Lillian’s murder. They were looking into local teens in the area as well as men with criminal records that had to do with violence against women.

Ada as well thought that there was more than one culprit of this dastardly deed. She believed her cousin had been killed by teenagers who had entered her home as a prank before being disturbed. Ada also said that she had been worried about Lillian living alone and had begged her to move closer to the rest of the family.

“My cousin’s home was big, dark and gloomy. It got no sun,” Ada said. “Time and time again I told her she should leave and take a flat near me. But she was very independent and said she was not at all afraid of living alone.”

By January 1964, 16,000 local people had been interviewed and the murderer of another local 70 year old woman was questioned. Nothing panned out and no clues were found. To this day Lillian's murder remains unsolved.

Missing Sally Smith's Body Was Just Found In A Storage Locker.

Mother of four, Sally Jane Demaris Smith was a kind soul and everyone knew it. She was full of energy and humor. And she was very passionate about her students at the Great Falls Public School District where she was a speech and language pathologist. She also taught spin classes at the Peak and was a mother of four children.

52-year-old Sally was last seen alive on September 25th, 2020. She had left her husband a note saying that she was going to visit her parents for a few days. 

When Sally's family and friends realized she was missing heartbreak and disbelief struck and the their world came crumbling down. 

Sally's husband drove more than 3,000 miles looking for her on his own; he even went so far as to search for her by plane. However, his search bore no fruit. There was also a Facebook group page set up called HelpFindSallySmith. And  Great Falls Police Department  worked with law enforcement from around the state to conduct searches as they tried to find Sally. 

On Sunday, October 11th, 2020, Sally's body was found  in her 2005 gold Toyota Corolla in a storage unit around 2:30 p.m. right outside of Malmstrom Air Force Base. 

Sally's death hasn't been classified as a crime yet, but one friend, following the news of her death, implied he believes she was killed.

Sally's family released this statement: 

"The Smith family would like to thank the community of Great Falls, GFPD and all law enforcement who were assisting and all of the folks on social media who were determined to find Sally. Unfortunately it’s not the outcome no one wanted. Our hearts will forever cherish her. Sally meant the world to us more than anyone will know. She was loved and adored by thousands, this we know. The overwhelming support and concern to all of the prayers is a testament of how beautiful of a person she was. She left her everlasting smile on this world and no one can take that away from us. Our hearts forever broken. She will forever be a angel walking beside us. She is our light."