Marvin Lee “Beau” King:1973, Springfield, Ohio

    

   Marvin Lee King was born on July 30th, 1960 to Monica King. He was called “Beau” by all those who knew him. He was a typical student at Northwestern Elementary School in 1973. 

   The King family lived at the Rose Garden Mobile Home Park at 2744 Upper Valley Pike in Springfield, Ohio. They were parishioners at St. Theresa Catholic Church. 

  

  On Thursday, January 25th, 1973 Beau called his mother at work in the evening. She worked at a local cafe. She was too busy to take the call and said she would call him back when she got a break. Later when she called back; he wasn’t home. She rushed home to see what was going on and to look for him.

   Beau had seemingly disappeared. His mother, Monica, reported him missing sometime after 8 p.m. when he was not home as she expected him to be. 

  A neighbor later reported seeing Beau get into a “dark colored car, possibly a 1965 Chevrolet or Pontiac” at about 8 p.m. 

  An anonymous phone call was received. The caller reported the location where “a man’s body” could be found “along West Possum Road”.

  Beau was found near where the caller indicated. But he wasn’t visible from the road. The caller would have had to have walked into the field and near the body in order to see Marvin there. He was found in a shallow ditch in a field between Rebert Pike and U.S. 68. He had been strangled. He was found fully clothed. 

   

  There’s a small baseball field at that spot at W. Possum and Rebert Pike. There are open fields behind it. Those look like they are still actively farmed. If the ball park was there in 1973; nothing would have been happening there. It was January and no official games would be going on. That doesn’t mean that kids didn’t play there. 

   

  An autopsy was performed. Strangulation was the cause of death. No rope or other implement was found there that could have been used to strangle him. 

   Classmates of Beau’s held a car wash fundraiser in May of 1973 in order to help raise funds for a memorial to Beau. 

   On Find A Grave, Beau is listed as cremated. That might not be correct. An article about Beau reported that his funeral Mass was held at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church and that he was to be buried at St. Bernard’s Cemetery. I have noticed that many Catholic Cemeteries don’t have their information on Find a Grave. 

   Beau was a beloved son, friend and classmate. He had so little time on this earth. He should have had a long life. 

   

   One suspect that should be considered is Joseph Norman Hill, formerly of Boardman, Ohio prior to 1978. Hill moved to San Bernardino County, California in 1978. He died in 2019 but was recently found to be responsible for the abduction, sexual assault and murder by strangulation of Brad Lee Bellino in 1972 in Boardman, Ohio. (South of Youngstown)There were a series of similar murders of boys in the early 1970’s there. He may be responsible for even more victims in Ohio and elsewhere. 

Joseph Norman Hill 

   If you have information that can help solve Beau’s murder please submit a tip using this link:

https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/King