It was nearly three years ago, on Jan. 21, 2016, that friends arrived to check on Jean Tuggy and found the 61-year-old dead inside her Pine Grove Mills home.
A day earlier, Ferguson Township police said, Tuggy was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. An autopsy found some signs of trauma, but there were no signs of forced entry to the Irion Street residence and police said in 2017 that neither robbery nor sexual assault appeared to be a motivating factor.
Three years after Tuggy’s death, police are still looking for her killer and, with new detectives on the case, they’re asking for help from anyone who knew her or who may have information about her.
‘Any knowledge about the victim in this case and any information could be helpful,’ Det. Caleb Clouse said in a news release. ‘We’re asking the public not to assume that we have all of the information we need.’
Clouse and Det. Jonathan Martin are leading a new ‘cold case’ team formed by Ferguson Township police last year. They are dedicated to investigating three unsolved cases in the township: Tuggy’s murder and the disappearances of Jennifer Cahill Shadle in 2014 and Cindy Song in 2001.
In the Tuggy case, Clouse and Martin have in the past three months gone through 700 pages of reports — not including photographs, cell phone records and other documents — and have been conducting interviews with people who knew her.
‘We’re getting up to speed on the case, looking at it with fresh eyes, and asking questions,’ Clouse said.
In the months following Tuggy’s death, Pennsylvania State Police and investigators from other local police departments assisted in the investigation. About 100 interviews were conducted and cell phone and social media records examined. Tuggy’s husband and other friends and family members were interviewed in 2016 and ruled out as suspects at the time.
As Clouse and Martin review evidence and look to connect facts, they want to speak to any Pine Grove Mills residents who may have information but have yet to be interviewed.
‘There are many people we would like to talk to,’ Clouse said. ‘The public typically is a huge help in unsolved cases.’
Clouse and Martin, who are assigned only to the three cases, say that as with the Cahill-Shadle and Song cases, they have a special responsibility to solve Tuggy’s murder.
‘Our goal is to do everything in our power to bring justice for Tuggy, her family and friends,’ Clouse said. ‘We’re eager and we’re ready for the challenge.’
To contact police with information, call 1-800-479-0050, email the department at police@twp.ferguson.pa.us, or submit an anonymous tip.
