Karen Ann Schmalz:1978, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

   

Karen Ann Schmalz

  Karen Schmalz was waiting in the car. Her Mom was inside the M.J. Carlisle Mall. 

  I remember waiting in the car many times while my Mom or Dad ran inside a store. Sometimes I did not feel like going inside. Sometimes I wanted to listen to the radio or just sit there. Sometimes my parents just didn’t want to drag all the kids in. It would be quicker and easier when they just went in alone. Waiting in the car was a very common experience for kids my age. 

  Karen was 14 and a freshman at Dover Area High School. It was Sunday, October 15th, 1978. It was just about the height of the disco era. Karen’s birthday was coming up on November 1st. Maybe her Mom was inside buying a gift or paying a bit on a layaway. It was Sunday evening. Maybe she was picking up something she needed for the work and school week ahead. 

  Karen had her brand new little transistor radio with her. She had just bought it that day. She had probably told her Mom that she would head to the car and meet her out there. I imagine that she was eager to get it out of the box and check it out. 

  Karen’s mother came back out to the car and Karen was gone. I imagine that she then went back into the mall thinking Karen might have gone inside and she just missed her. She looked. She contacted Mall Security and later called the police. Karen had seemingly vanished. 

  On October 28th,1978 two men went hunting in North Middleton Township. Karen was found, just a few days before her 15th birthday, in a culvert next to Hoy Road, 3/10 of a mile (.50 km) south of Enola Road. The spot was just a few miles north of Carlisle. It is an idyllic country lane dotted with farms and woods today. It might have been even more isolated in 1978. It seems some of the homes are more recent. 

  Karen was found fully dressed. At first glance she had no obvious injuries. An autopsy would later show that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. 

  Blair Frank Brown was 19 in 1978. He was not a stranger to violence. In 1972, when he was twelve; he shot and killed his father. He spent some time at a forestry camp for juveniles and then rejoined his mother in the town of State College, Pennsylvania. 

  Blair Frank Brown drove a van in 1978. He was having trouble staying employed and paying his bills. For a while he roomed with a family in Carlisle in 1978. 

  He got a job at Piezo Crystal Company on the assembly line and moved to Johnstown. He was dating a 14 year old girl during this time. He got in trouble for drinking and driving. He had a car accident that knocked out some of his teeth. While in Johnstown he was renting a room and having parties. One of his guests broke a lamp and Brown begged the owner not to call the police. They settled on a dollar amount for the light fixture instead. 

  All his friends, including his current 14 year old girlfriend, couldn’t believe that he would abduct a girl. They did not see him as violent. His 14 year old girlfriend said he was “better” when he was working. He had been on the line at Piezo Crystal Company for three or four weeks when he was arrested. 

 Brown had given Karen’s new radio to his 14 year old girlfriend. She still had it when police spoke with her. 

 Blair Frank Brown was apprehended after he and his mother sought mental health help for him in early 1979. He confessed to the murder first there. The two then went to the police and Brown confessed again. 

  Blair Frank Brown was arrested. He had confessed to abducting Karen when he saw her sitting alone in the car. He said he drove around with her while threatening to kill her. He made her crouch down under the dashboard. Later he tied her up with binder twine. (This is a thin cheap cord which was made of natural fibers back then. It was used on farms for bailing hay. Many farmers saved it to use for other things. It was easy to find in rural areas.) He confessed to raping her. He said he told her that he would let her go after the rape. Instead he used a length of binder twine to strangle her. He looped it around her neck and twisted. He said he held it tight with his hands but looked away as she died. 

  If only he had sought mental health help before October of 1978. Karen might still be alive.

  Blair Frank Brown was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to life in prison. He is still there as of June of 2026. 

 14 year old Karen Schmalz was buried in her home state of Wisconsin. 

Rest in peace, Karen.