Mollie Pearson:1970, Akron, Ohio

  

   Mollie Pearson was born in Sylacauga, Alabama in 1951. That’s a tiny town southeast of Birmingham in central Alabama. 

  She moved to Akron, Ohio with her family when she was a toddler. 

As a teenager she worked summers at John Graf Farms harvesting onions. Many Midwestern kids can probably identify with that. I grew up in a rural area in southern Indiana and did a lot of farm work for extra money. I used to help put up hay and I picked blackberries and sold quarts of berries to neighbors. The 1970’s were pretty bleak economic times and if you could find a way to earn a little money you felt pretty lucky. 

Mollie graduated from Central High School in 1970. 

She lived with her family at 1884 Second Street in Akron. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Y.C. Pearson. Her siblings included four brothers James Edward, Danny, Ernest, James and a sister named Mrs. Lola Wilson. 

On November 24th, 1970, 19 year old Mollie was found shot and beaten in a field or vacant lot behind a home at 366 Berry Avenue in southwest Akron. 

She had only been out of high school for 6 months. She was just starting to find her way in the world. 

Was her murder related to the 1972 murder of Zelma Louise Allen? 

   Zelma Louise Allen was born on the 28th of April in 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas. She and her family moved to Akron Ohio when she was still a preschooler. She grew up there in that industrial town. Her family lived at 154 Tarbell Street. 

   She was a 17 year old junior at Central Hower High School in 1972. Zelma worked part time at City Garage at North Union Street. She had a son named Orlando to support. So, she was doing her best to finish school and make her way in the world.

   Zelma disappeared on August 4th, 1972. I am just guessing based on the map but perhaps she was walking home to or from work at City Garage on North Union. It’s not terribly far from her home on Tarbell. 

  (On Find-a-Grave it says that she was walking to work and using a shortcut that went past the back of Beech Street. She never made it to work and was reported missing on August 5th,1972.)

  Zelma was found two years after she went missing behind Number 10 Beech Street. It is located between her home and work. She was so close to home. 

  Almost nothing was written about her disappearance at the time. Thankfully, the person who wrote her obituary and made sure it was published in the paper provided all these addresses and key information. 

  Zelma was so close to home the entire time she was missing. She was in the city behind a business. No one saw her? No one noticed the smell of decay and was curious enough to check it out? I guess so. 

   The business at 10 Beech Street was called Ace Rubber Products. Perhaps it already had a strong odor of rubber or tires and no one noticed. Some cities like Akron can have a lot of industrial pollution smells. I imagine in the 1970’s it was way worse than today. 

   Today the area behind the building is overgrown and wooded. It may have been that way then or maybe there were piles of tires or other materials there then. I didn’t find any reporting of the circumstances of the discovery of Zelma’s remains. 

   Was she sexually assaulted? Were any of her clothes preserved in evidence? A lot of clothes in the early 70’s were polyester. It wouldn’t break down as fast as cotton. If her clothes were saved there is a possibility, however slim, that DNA evidence could be there. Her fingernails might also have held the DNA of her killer. 

   Her mother and stepfather, Cora Lee and Alvin Elliott and her sister, Cassandra E. Allen were left behind to take care of little Orlando. He should have had his mother with him as he grew up. 

   Zelma Louise Allen is buried at Mt. Peace Cemetery on North Aqueduct Street. It’s very close to her former home on Tarbell Street. 

   Mollie Pearson and Zelma Louise Allen were murdered 2 years apart but were found very close together.  Mollie was found at 366 Berry St. and Zelma was found behind 10 Beech St.  Those two spots are only a few blocks away. Both had been shot. Was there a predator lurking in that area? 

    Zelma Allen’s case is listed on the Ohio Unsolved Cold Case website. Mollie Pearson’s is not yet there. I’ll be looking to see if Mollie’s case is solved or simply not yet added to the site. 

    I suspect that Mollie Pearson’s murder is still an unsolved cold case. 

   One killer who operated in that area was Gustave Sepharas. In 2023, he was convicted of the 1970 murder of Karen Bentz and another young woman in 1975. We know he liked killing young white women.  Did he also kill young black women as well? 

  Researchers often say that serial killers tend to choose victims within their own ethnic group. But, I am not sure that all killers follow these rules. I think when they see a person that they want to victimize and they have a chance to get away with it…they strike. 

   Mollie was a hard working and determined young woman. She finished high school and worked Summers in the heat and humidity of Ohio. She wanted more for herself. 

  She was probably heading downtown that Monday to apply for a job. Lots of stores would be hiring for the Christmas rush in late November.

  Someone knows what happened to Mollie. 

   Mollie Pearson is buried at Mt. Peace Cemetery in Akron. Zelma Louise Allen is also buried there. 

   Rest in peace Mollie. 

   Rest in peace Zelma.