Jackie Simpson's loss felt through years, generations

Twenty-five years after the disappearance and slaying of barmaid Jacqueline Simpson, her children still cling to hope that her remains will be discovered and finally laid to rest.

"We miss her terribly," said her oldest daughter, Tammy Simpson, of New Kensington. "All this time we have been hoping someone or something shows up."

Wednesday marked the 25th anniversary of Simpson's disappearance. It was Feb. 28, 1982, when Jackie Simpson didn't return to her daughter's apartment after tending bar at the former Magic Lamp Bar and Grill in Vandergrift.

Her body was never found.

"We just miss her, that is all," said her oldest son, Robert "Dutch" Simpson. "I always tell my friends to treat their parents the best they can because you don't know what is going to happen."

The events surrounding Jackie's disappearance remain fresh in the family's minds causing some to relive the awful experience on a daily basis.

"So much time has passed and, of course, it has eased up over the years, but I still think about her on a regular basis," said her brother, Robert Adams, 77, of Upper Burrell. "I remember I went out into the woods with Det. (Kevin) Graham and we looked for her body ... and then we found out it was suspected she was murdered. That was a bigger shock than her disappearance."

"We know that Jackie was a believer in finding peace in knowing that we will be reunited in Heaven someday," said her sister, Ruth Atkinson. "She was the sweetest and prettiest little sister to me, a dedicated mother to her seven children, a fun-loving aunt to her nieces and nephews, and a loyal friend to all that knew her."

Today, Jackie Simpson would be 69.

The man convicted of her murder, Gary R. Kunish, died in 1996, perhaps taking with him any chance of finding Simpson's remains.

But Tammy Simpson said she feels that he was not the only person who knows where her mother is buried.

"There is one other person that palled around with him (Kunish) and I believe she knows," Tammy Simpson said. "A lot of people were deathly afraid of him and I believe she was, too."

Prior to her disappearance, the 44-year-old, 5-foot-6-inch, 135-pound strawberry blonde mother of seven had ended an on-again, off-again relationship with Kunish just before Christmas 1981. She had since begun to date a man from Vandergrift.

"I can remember Gary saying, 'If I can't have her, nobody can have her,'" Tammy Simpson said. "When you break up with someone, all you want is that person to leave you alone.

"We used to beg her to 'please, please get away from him.'"

Fruitless search

Following Jackie Simpson's disappearance and murder, the Simpson children consulted Nancy Anderson, a psychic from Jeannette, to help locate their mother's remains.

"I was closest to my mom. ... We worked together as bartenders and were like sisters," said Tammy Simpson, who found droplets of blood at the bar three days after her mother disappeared. "It was crazy at that time. I cried all day."

According to a sketch produced by Anderson, Jackie Simpson was near a wooded area and partially covered. Anderson believed she was somewhere along a straight line that leads west of Vandergrift toward the Natrona section of Harrison. The search turned up empty.

Other areas that were searched include the Braeburn area of Lower Burrell, areas of water in Allegheny Township, the wooded area by the Bonfire Restaurant on Route 56, a cave behind the former Woodland Drive-In in Parks, the basement of the Magic Lamp, and the former Varos Landfill in Buffalo Township.

A $1,000 reward was posted by the Simpson children for information leading to the discovery of their mother's body.

Tammy Simpson feels her mother's remains still lie in the landfill.

"I feel that my mother is still in that landfill and wish they would have kept looking there," Tammy Simpson said. "They thought they were finished; I didn't think they were finished ... but who was going to listen to a 22-year-old?"

Kevin Graham, a former state trooper and a member of the investigation team that worked on Jackie Simpson's case, agrees.

Graham said the general consensus at the time was that Jackie Simpson's body was in the landfill.

"They dug, and they dug, and they dug, and then another major homicide came up," Graham said. "An extensive area was covered, but the cost of digging prohibited us to go any further."

Graham, now retired from the state police, said the search for Jackie Simpson continued through the summer of 1982 and, years after her disappearance, he continued to receive tips that brought unidentified bones to the coroner's office.

An unusual case

A month-and-a-half after Jackie Simpson disappeared, Gary Kunish was arrested and charged with criminal homicide despite the fact that no body had been found. Police believed they had enough evidence to prove Kunish was involved in her disappearance.

It would be only the second time in Pennsylvania that a killer was convicted without a body.

Kunish pleaded not guilty. His trial ended after 21 days when the jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.

Kunish began serving a 3 1/2-year sentence in August 1984 at the state prison near Greensburg. He was paroled Feb. 16, 1988.

Robert Johnston, the district attorney who prosecuted in the case, remembers the anxiety that he and the district attorney's office experienced in trying to convict Kunish.

"Well, there was no direct evidence at all," he said. "In fact, when the matter came to the DA's office, the feeling was that it was impossible to successfully prosecute with never finding the body and without a confession or eye witnesses."

Richard Galloway, Kunish's attorney, said the defense had an interesting case on their hands trying to prove Kunish's innocence.

"No murder weapon was found and they never found evidence other than blood in the bar," Galloway said. "During the time, it was an unusual case because they did not find the body but gradually accumulated a number of pieces of information that compellingly concluded he was guilty of the murder."

The Simpson children collectively pray for closure while agonizing that their mother's body has yet to be found.

"I still think someone is trying to tell me something," Tammy Simpson said. "Maybe someone will contact the police with him (Kunish) gone and won't be afraid to tell us where she is.

"Maybe then, we will get some closure after all these years."

Timeline

Jackie Simpson disappeared, leaving behind seven children, ages 15 to 23. This is a timeline of events surrounding her disappearance:

• Feb. 27, 1982: Tammy and Wendy Simpson walk their mother, Jackie, to work at the Magic Lamp Bar and Grill in Vandergrift at about 5:30 p.m.

• Feb. 28, 1982: Jackie is last seen just after midnight with Gary R. Kunish, the bar's owner with whom she had an on-again, off-again relationship. Later that morning, Simpson is reported missing when she fails to return home.

• March, 3, 1982: On about this date, Tammy Simpson, who also worked at the Magic Lamp, finds spots of blood in the bar.

• April 6, 1982: Kunish is arrested for the murder of Jackie Simpson. Her body had not been found.

• April 8, 1982: Kunish posts bond and is released.

• April 14, 1982: The hunt for Jackie continues as law-enforcement officials search the Braeburn area of Lower Burrell.

• May 21, 1982: Kunish is formally arraigned before Judge Daniel J. Ackerman in Greensburg.

• June 28, 1982: The Simpson children call on Nancy Anderson, a psychic from Jeannette, to again help find the remains of her mother.

• Sept. 10, 1982: Testimony in the murder case begins.

• Sept. 28, 1982: A jury convicts Kunish of involuntary manslaughter.

• June 23, 1984: Kunish sells the Magic Lamp bar to Clarence Cook. The tavern is renamed the Hideout.

• August 1984: Kunish begins to serve time in the state prison near Greensburg.

• May 1, 1986: Kunish appeals his sentence of 3 1/2 to seven years.

• Jan. 14, 1987: Kunish wins his appeal. His sentence is reduced by one to two years.

• Feb. 16, 1988: Kunish is paroled after serving 3 1/2 years.

• 1995: Kunish's parole ends. He no longer is supervised by the state.

• Sept. 1, 1996: Kunish dies at 57.