Episode #53: Barbara Ann Mangus - Murdered (1974)

While walking home from a work Christmas party after a spat with her husband, Barbara Ann Mangus went missing. Two weeks later, on New Year’s Eve, she was found murdered. Her primary injury was strangulation. Investigators were left to put fragments of stories together to create one narrative in an attempt to solve the mystery of what happened to Barbara Ann Mangus that December night in 1974.

Barbara Ann Mangus

Birth: 1/24/1953 - Death: 12/31/1974

Ethnicity: Caucasion - Sex: Female

Hair Color: brown - Eye Color: brown

Hometown: Johnstown, Cambria County

Crime Scene: Body found in local wooded area

Last Known Location Alive: Walking within 2 blocks of her home in Johnstown

Injury Description: Strangled to death with cloth belt from her own overcoat, unclear whether she was sexually assaulted. Her body appeared to have been pushed from a car.

Suspect Description: Possibly a former local police officer

Additional Information: “The Daily American” printed an 8-part series on this case from May to July of 2020.

The family began receiving death threats throughout the investigation of Barbara's murder.

DNA: Found to be the same blood type as Barbara, samples no longer available

Fingerprints: Unknown

If you have any information regarding the murder of Barbara Ann Mangus please call state police in Ebensburg at 814-471-6500.

Cash reward: $2,000

Sources:

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/johnstown/2020/05/19/questions-haunt-the-1974-murder-of-a-west-end-woman/115779876/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/johnstown/2020/05/26/disappearing-dna-could-keep-mangus-case-a-mystery/115796386/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/johnstown/2020/06/02/several-including-police-crossed-victims-path-the-night-of-her-murder/115778154/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/2020/06/09/city-detective-mayor-intervened-in-mangus-case/43629735/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/2020/06/16/new-2k-reward-offered-for-info-on-mangus-murder/115777236/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/johnstown/2020/06/23/mangus-crime-scene-integrity-called-into-question/43628951/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/johnstown/2020/06/30/manguss-family-the-mcmillens-received-death-threats-after-her-murder/115777106/

https://www.dailyamerican.com/story/news/local/johnstown/2020/07/07/relatives-of-mangus-insist-on-theory-of-police-involvement/43647893/

https://www.crimewatchpa.com/crimestoppers/316/cases/cold-case-barbara-ann-mangus-homicide-1974-middle-taylor-township-cambria-county-cash

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92929904/barbara-ann-mangus

https://wjactv.com/news/local/2k-reward-being-offered-in-johnstown-homicide-case-from-the-70s

https://www.newspapers.com/image/14567030/?terms=barbara%20ann%20mangus&match=1

https://www.newspapers.com/image/13867648/?terms=barbara%20ann%20mangus&match=1

https://www.lockhaven.com/uncategorized/2020/08/reverend-haunted-by-sisters-unsolved-1978-slaying/