This is an interesting case,with an interesting Wikipedia paragraph that jumped out at me:

"In 1979, Jon Swaim died following a drug overdose; his death was subsequently ruled to be suicide. Upon his death, he ordered that all of his files on the case be destroyed."

Jon Swaim was a private detective hired by the victims’ families to look for the girls. So let’s get this straight – he dies by committing suicide and decides that his work hunting for the 3 girls should be destroyed? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but that sounds mightily suspicious. One wonders what he found out.
Yes, it can be argued that someone who kills themselves is obviously not thinking clearly, but why stop your work helping others after your death? It makes no sense unless his discoveries needed burying.

This is an interesting case,with an interesting Wikipedia paragraph that jumped out at me:

"In 1979, Jon Swaim died following a drug overdose; his death was subsequently ruled to be suicide. Upon his death, he ordered that all of his files on the case be destroyed."

Jon Swaim was a private detective hired by the victims’ families to look for the girls. So let’s get this straight – he dies by committing suicide and decides that his work hunting for the 3 girls should be destroyed? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but that sounds mightily suspicious. One wonders what he found out.
Yes, it can be argued that someone who kills themselves is obviously not thinking clearly, but why stop your work helping others after your death? It makes no sense unless his discoveries needed burying.[/quote

That is an interesting point. i also think along the line if you have the thought process and time to leave a letter? you should also have the time to destroy the files if they are so important to you. but you have to be in a pretty dark place so anything is possible. Thinking rationally and straight is not part of that process.

 

If that Wikipedia entry is correct (the source link is no longer valid) , then something doesn’t sit right. There are some obvious questions that crop up, along with your observation that he would have had the time/inclination to destroy the files himself if it was that important to him:
1) If he didn’t have immediate access to the files, why not and where were they?
2) Were his wishes carried out, and by whom?
3) Did the parents receive any information from him before his death (unlikely or it would probably be public knowledge)
4) Did the parents employ another P.I ? If not, was it because they gave up, or because no one else would touch it for some reason?

There is also the possibility that he was murdered to close down a discovery. If the suicide note was fake, it would imply that the assassin couldn’t find what they were looking for and had to hope that Swaim’s final wishes were carried out by whoever was holding the files. It does sound a bit far-fetched, but it wouldn’t be the first time an investigator has ‘committed suicide’ whilst investigating a high profile case. Check out my thread on Riverside D.A. investigator David McGowan and the suicide of journalist Danny Casolaro:
http://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=4674

What if the files contained sensitive information about private citizens that Swain thought best not to be seen by just anyone? The destruction of the files could be sinister, I’m just trying to put out there some non-sinister reason they were destroyed. Maybe a named source accused a certain named individual of, say, committing a sex crime. If the accused was legally innocent Swain may have thought it best this dirty linen was not seen by anyone else.

What if the files contained sensitive information about private citizens that Swain thought best not to be seen by just anyone? The destruction of the files could be sinister, I’m just trying to put out there some non-sinister reason they were destroyed. Maybe a named source accused a certain named individual of, say, committing a sex crime. If the accused was legally innocent Swain may have thought it best this dirty linen was not seen by anyone else.

That is a good point, and you would have Occam’s razor in your favour there. But if I put myself in his shoes I can’t help but feel the work would need passing on, at least to law enforcement if no one else. What ever the reason, it’s very sad. No doubt there was something of worth there that made it imperative to destroy. A real shame.

Julie Moseley was only 9 while the other two were teenagers. Julie didn’t really get a chance at life.