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Girl’s cold case murder haunts family, investigators

Posted at 4:53 PM, Mar 12, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-13 01:19:41-04

PETERSBURG, Va. (WTVR) -- Detectives hope the public can help them catch the person who killed a Petersburg girl nearly 46 years ago.

After a man convicted of killing two Petersburg boys in 1969 was arrested for new crimes in New Jersey, area detectives hope new tips will lead them to whoever abducted and killed 10-year-old Lois Walton in 1968.

After more than four decades, Hope and Roy Walton told CBS 6 senior reporter Wayne Covil that time has not erased their treasured memories of their baby sister.

"What I do remember is that my sister was brilliant. A straight-A student,” Roy Walton said.

Hope Walton remembered her sister as a quiet, studious girl who was very smart and interested in a wide range of subjects.

“She read a lot, just like I did,” Hope Walton said.

Roy and Hope will never forget what happened on the morning of May 27, 1968 as they headed for Peabody High School.

"It really bothers me to be concerned and to deal with the issue of, what she dealt with on that particular day," Roy said.

Hope remembered that it was raining very hard that morning as she and her brother set off. Lois then walked out the front door of the family’s St. Luke Street home headed for Virginia Avenue Elementary.

"A black station wagon passed by and… so it was a neighbor who saw her get into this black station wagon," Hope Walton said.

Four weeks later, Lois’ body was found in Dinwiddie County down a desolate dirt road.

"My mom said my little friend Lois had been found in a well and that she had been murdered,” Denise Fisher, who walked to school with Lois Walton >

Sam Batts, a Petersburg police detective who worked the case, said that while the department was determined to solve the crime, officers uncovered few clues.

"I think the person who did it, is still out here, no doubt,” Batts said.

Dinwiddie County Sheriff D.T. Adams remains hopeful someone will come forward.

"I'm asking the public to come forward, if they have any information, we would love to solve this case and bring it to a conclusion for the family," Adams said. >

Walton's brother and sister say last week’s arrest of Charles Williams the convicted murderer from 1969 opened up a lot of old wounds.

"It was a very traumatic time for this family and I think the entire community," Roy Walton said.

The pair hope by sharing their sister’s story, someone will come forward and help police catch Lois’ killer.

What a former detective says about one suspect in the case, watch below.