|
Two recent female homicide victims shared a vagrant lifestyle on the streets of the City of Poughkeepsie. Both had been prostitutes and drug users. Both were white women 45 years of age. And the bodies of both Terry Wendover and Iris Rogers were found in the vicinity of Main Street. Now City of Poughkeepsie police detectives are trying to determine whether both were murdered at the hands of the same person.
“We don’t know if (the homicides) are related,” said Detective Lt. William Siegrist of the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department. “That’s one of the things we’re looking at,” he said.
Siegrist did note that both women eked out a similar existence on the streets. “Both (homicides) involve women from similar backgrounds,” he said. “Both were street people, both prostitutes and both had used drugs,” he said.
Wendover’s body was found on July 29 shortly before 5 a.m. in the parking lot of a Rite Aid drug store at 690 Main St. Police received a call from an individual in the vicinity who heard her screams as she was fatally assaulted. She was taken to St. Francis Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
On June 21, Rogers was found in a wooded area near Kennedy’s Fried Chicken at 472 Main St.
Police will not release details on the injuries sustained by the women during the attacks in order to protect the integrity of the investigations. Siegrist would also not say whether either woman was sexually assaulted.
Wendover was raised in Ancramdale and Amenia and was widowed when her husband was killed in a car accident, according to police. She was estranged from her three children, who have not lived with her for a number of years, and from other family members, police said. In addition to her children, she is survived by her father, mother, three sisters and a brother.
Residents who live nearby say the parking lot between Rite Aid and Pickwick’s Pub attracts drug dealers and prostitutes after dark.
June Poulsen hopes to prevail on the city’s Common Council to find a way to turn on the lights overnight, she said.
“It’s pitch dark out there,” said Poulsen’s daughter.
Poulsen was up late on the night of Wendover’s murder setting up a new computer and went to bed shortly after 3 a.m. With the window closed and the air-conditioning running, she didn’t hear Wendover’s screams.
“Now I’m sorry I didn’t stay up,” said Poulsen, who rises early for her job as a bus driver. “I probably would have had a cup of tea and sat out on the porch,” she said, thinking she might have been able to call police in time to prevent Wendover’s death.
But residents also said that noise from the parking lot was not unusual – as patrons left the pub, fights would break out.
“You don’t think anything of it,” Poulsen said. She routinely calls police about suspicious behavior, and she said the police are very quick to respond.
Neighbor Carol Kehner was raised in Poughkeepsie and returned to the city several years ago. Living alone, she said was “a whole new situation.
“It’s scary for me,” she said of the recent homicides in her neighborhood.
Sandy Roger, an employee at Rite Aid, said Wendover was often seated on a bench steps from where her body was found. In fact, Roger saw her on the bench Friday evening as she left work, she said.
“She was out here everyday – homeless. She wouldn’t bother a soul,” said Roger. Despite Wendover’s hardships, neighbors expressed sorrow that her life had ended violently.
“I just hope they catch him,” said Roger of the person responsible.
Police seek information
Siegrist said police are seeking information from anyone who was in the Main Street vicinity in the early morning hours of July 29 and June 21 and saw or heard anything, “no matter how trivial,” he said. “In both cases there were people in the area who are potentially witnesses,” he said. “We’re looking for anybody who has information about this crime. … Many times people say things in an unguarded moment,” he added.
Those with information can call an anonymous tip line at 451-7577. The main phone number for the police is 451-4000.
