In 1996, a thirty-five-year-old single mother named Diana Ferris was expecting her second child.

Then, on April 11, she was found strangled to death in her Hartford, Connecticut, apartment. Diana was five and a half months pregnant at the time and had a sixteen-year-old daughter.

“My grandfather had actually received the news that my mother was murdered,” recalled Meranda Vandeventer, Diana’s daughter, in an interview with Fox 61.

Authorities discovered Diana with a pillowcase covering her head and a telephone cord wrapped tightly around her neck.

She was pronounced dead on the scene, although police believe she had been murdered days before.

Diana had shared her Garden Street apartment with her forty-one-year-old boyfriend, Harold Rice. Just a few months before her murder, though, Harold was imprisoned following a first-degree robbery charge.

The mother had come into contact with police before, particularly during an investigation of the 1993 homicide that took place in the Dutch Point housing project.

Investigators had reason to believe that Diana was at the scene of that crime. However, no arrests were ever made in that case, and police still have no answers as to why Diana was murdered.

Facebook; pictured above is Diana

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Meranda did recently speak out about her mom’s struggles and believes that her past may have clouded investigators’ drive to solve the cold case.

“She was a single mom who struggled with drug addiction. At the end of the day, she was a mother and a loving mother,” she said.

“If my mother was a pillar in the community– if she was a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer– I feel that maybe the police and community would have cared a little bit more,” Meranda continued.

Nonetheless, Diana’s case has remained cold for over twenty-six years now. Detective Andrew Jacobson of the Hartford Police Department did reveal this month that investigators are pursuing potential new leads.

“There is DNA in this case that we are actively looking at. We have identified a few people who are related to Diana’s case, and we are excited to be making headway,” Detective Jacobson shared.

Still, until Diana’s family receives concrete answers, anyone with information regarding the case is encouraged to contact the Hartford Police Department tip line at (866) 623-8058 or email [email protected].

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