Federal funding cuts close cold case investigation in La Grande

Think Out Loud

Federal funding cuts close cold case investigation in La Grande

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Published on Nov 6, 2025, 12:53:07 PM
Total time: 00:11:21

Episode Description

In 1983, the body of 21-year-old bartender Dana DuMars was found in Candy Cane Park in La Grande, Oregon. The case was never solved, though for years children grew up with scary stories about the park. An investigator for the district attorney’s office spent years looking into the case and finally narrowed in on potential suspects. But then, cuts from the federal Department of Justice to local law enforcement ended the investigation. Emma Goldberg wrote about this story for the New York Times and joins us to talk about it.

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