The Bristol Police Department recently has assigned a detective to re-open investigations on cold cases.
We are asking the public for any leads that they may have, you may contact the Detective Division of the Bristol Police Department at 401-253-7766. Information may also be submitted via email to the following Detective:
Detective Adam Clifford: [email protected]
Listed below, are cases which are being profiled for re-examination:
Lauren was last seen at the RI Employee’s Credit Union on Francis St in Providence, where she withdrew cash for a down payment on a vehicle that she was going to purchase that day. Lauren never returned home that night and her vehicle was found several hours later on Route 10 in the City of Cranston.
A subsequent search of the vicinity located Lauren’s body in Spectacle Pond.
On February 1, 1975, Karen Fenninger was found murdered in her 1st floor apartment at 833 Hope Street.
Her husband Randolph went to run several errands that evening, he arrived home approximately one hour later to find that Karen’s body was located in the bedroom of the dwelling.
She was found to have several stab wounds in the heart and both lungs, and had been strangled with nylon fishing line.
This was initially reported as a missing person report of Bryan Nisenfeld. On February 8, 1997, Bryan went missing from the campus of Roger Williams University.
Prior to his disappearance, Bryan had contacted his father over harassment that he was experiencing by a former RWU student.
Bryan hadn’t been seen on campus for several days and was reported missing to RWU Public Safety five or six days before police were notified of his disappearance by Nisenfeld’s father.
An extensive search, as well as following multiple sightings of Bryan in the surrounding states was conducted.
Six months later, on the shore of Hog Island, which is located one half of a mile from Bristol, a boot containing the remains of a foot and shin bone were located along the shore line.
DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to Bryan Nisenfeld.
- January 29, 2020 – An anonymous letter was received at a home of an employee of the Bristol Warren Regional School District. The letter containing an unknown white powdery substance was transported by the employee to the School Administration building, at that time the Bristol Police and Fire Departments as well as the East Providence Fire Department’s Haz-Mat Team responded to the scene to secure the item in question. The letter was later transported to the Rhode Island crime lab for analysis. The analysis determined that the letter did not contain an toxic substance. At this time there are no leads as to where the letter originated from.
- October 8, 2019 – Bristol Police were notified of a theft of a poor box from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church at 141 State Street. Police interviewed the pastor of the church who indicated that a metal collection box located inside the front of the church had been torn from the wall. The box, described as beige in color, measuring 5 inches by 10 inches with the wording “POOR BOX” on the front. The box was removed between the hours of 9:45 AM and 4:00 PM. At this time, it is unclear as to the identity of a suspect.
- September 28, 2019 – Bristol Police responded to 163 Bradford Street, Apartment A for a report of a broken window. The investigation determined that sometime around 2:25 AM two shots from an unknown weapon were fired into the window of the apartment. Local surveillance video was obtained and it showed several persons in the area during the time of the incident, however we are unable to positively identify the subjects on the video.