The Haunting Clue Written in Blood: How a Daughter Helped Solve Her Mother’s Murder—46 Years Later
On the morning of July 31, 1970, 4-year-old Heidi Jones awoke to a nightmare that would haunt her for decades. She found her mother, 23-year-old Loretta Jones, lying lifeless on their living room floor in Price, Utah—her body bloodied, her life stolen.
Through her tears, Heidi uttered a chilling accusation: “Tom did it.”
Thomas Edward Egley, a man who had briefly dated Loretta, was already on law enforcement’s radar that night. Hours after the murder, he was caught attempting to kidnap a 10-year-old girl from the same neighborhood. But despite his arrest, a lack of solid evidence led to the murder case being dismissed. Egley walked free, while Heidi grew up without a mother—and without justice.
For 46 years, Loretta’s murder remained unsolved. Then, against all odds, a spark reignited the case. And it was Heidi—the daughter who never stopped believing—who helped bring her mother’s killer to justice.
The Bloodstained Message That Wasn’t Enough
In a desperate act of defiance, as Loretta lay dying, she wrote two letters in her own blood: ‘T’ and ‘O.’
“She was bleeding to death, gasping for her last breath, and writing with her own finger in her own blood… That’s pretty overwhelming,” Heidi later said.
But in 1970, forensic science was primitive, and investigators struggled to build a strong enough case. Egley’s connection to the murder was undeniable, but he evaded conviction—slipping through the cracks of the justice system.
With time, the whispers of the past faded. Heidi, raised by her grandparents, tried to move on. She blocked out the horror of her mother’s murder, burying it deep within her subconscious. But justice, much like memory, has a way of resurfacing.
The Breakthrough That Took Decades
In 1989, Heidi, now an adult, saw a television special about cold cases. A fire reignited within her. She wrote to the show, pleaded with law enforcement, and fought to keep her mother’s case alive. But time after time, she hit brick walls.
Then, in 2009, fate intervened in an unexpected way. After her car was stolen, she vented about it on Facebook. A comment appeared from an old high school acquaintance: David Brewer, who happened to be a detective with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office.
Heidi saw an opportunity and seized it. She reached out, asking him to reopen her mother’s case.
Closing In on the Killer
Detective Brewer began digging. He tracked down Egley in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 2010 and started pressing him for information. It took six more years of relentless investigation before they finally had enough to make an arrest.
Egley’s downfall came from an unexpected source—his own neighbor, Lisa Carter. Unaware she was working with law enforcement, Egley confided in Carter, revealing damning details about the murder. That was all detectives needed. In 2016, Egley was arrested and finally admitted to killing Loretta Jones.
Facing the Boogeyman
In court, Heidi came face-to-face with the man she had named as the killer when she was just four years old. But now, the monster who had loomed in the shadows of her childhood was nothing more than an old, frail man.
“He’s not the boogeyman anymore,” she said. “Even the boogeyman gets old.”
Egley pled guilty and was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. It wasn’t enough to erase the pain of the past, but it was justice—a justice that had taken nearly half a century to secure.
The Power of Persistence
Looking back, Heidi knows how close her mother’s case came to being forgotten. But she never stopped believing.
“The biggest thing, in my opinion, is when a family gives up and feels hopeless. But you can’t do that,” she said. “As long as you have hope, you have a chance. My mantra, my favorite word, is ‘believe.’ Believe, believe, believe.”
And in the end, that belief brought justice to a mother who had used her last moments to leave behind a clue—written in blood.
