After 37 Years, This Woman Finds Her Brother’s Killer On Facebook.
We have heard of success stories where people have found their long-lost loved ones through social media. But for this woman, she was able to track down her brother’s killer, thanks to Facebook.
Penny Farmer’s brother Chris and his girlfriend Peta were killed in the Caribbean while they were on a boat in July 1978. Chris and Peta, the mid-20s childhood sweethearts, were on an adventure. They both communicated with their families via snail mail since this all happened before the internet. Then they just stopped communicating.
Later on, the families notified the authorities, and that’s when an epic search began. Their remains were located off Guatemala in July. The autopsy revealed they were chained, tormented, and weighed down with engine parts.
Peta’s letters to her parents said the couple met an American and his two sons in Belize. They planned to cruise to Honduras with them. Both Peta and Chris were gone when the American returned on his boat.
It was clear that someone aboard the boat killed them.
The suspect was identified – an American named Silas Boston of Sacramento, California. He’d previously been accused of assault and rape, and his third wife (out of seven total) had disappeared 10 years earlier. But his sons who were on the boat along with Chris and Peta, were never interviewed regarding the incident.
There was no crime scene investigation. And although Silas was questioned, he just denied any wrongdoing. And soon, the case went cold.
One afternoon, almost four decades later, Penny Farmer decided to search the suspected killer’s name on Facebook. She was shocked that his profile popped up immediately. Talking to BBC, Penny said, “Heaven knows why I didn’t look earlier.”
In the picture, Silas had a cap, sunglasses, and a gray beard. Penny discovered Russell and Vince, Silas’ children, and his fifth ex-wife. Penny attempted to contact the family but got no answer.
That’s when she decided to call 911…
She now says that she wishes she’d thought of using social media a whole lot sooner. At the time, the investigation of Silas’ missing third wife had just been reopened. His sons allege he killed their mother. They’d also spent 30 years attempting to convince police they’d seen their father kill Chris and Peta in Guatemala.
Russell and Vince informed the Sacramento Police Department, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the FBI, Interpol, Scotland Yard, and the Serious Organized Crime Agency but none of those agencies acted. Russell said his father killed 33 people Silas’ sons say he threatened to murder them if they reported him.
Thanks to Penny’s Facebook search, the truth will be set free…
Silas was found at a California nursing home. Because he had no visitors or acquaintances, a caregiver made him a Facebook page.
Penny said, “Closure is a lovely term, and I do believe that closure only comes when the truth is known. My mother is 93 and now has all the answers to the questions that haunted her for 38 years. But just because you’ve found answers doesn’t mean you stop hurting. I’m not quite there yet.”
Silas Boston was charged with killing Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton 14 months after Penny’s Facebook hunt. The old man cowardly took the easy way out by canceling his medical treatment and later on passed away.
