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HLN, Liberty cops reopen cold case case
By Elise Franco
Liberty
The search for Lori Ann Boffman continues as the missing Liberty Township woman was featured Tuesday on Nancy Grace’s show.
Grace discussed the case of Boffman – who was 45 when she went missing in August 2006 – during the 8 p.m. broadcast on HLN, CNN’s Headline News Network. The episode on Boffman is a part of Grace’s push to help find 50 people in 50 days.
Boffman, whose last listed address was Holly Drive in Liberty, went for a drive at about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 5, 2006, leaving behind her purse, identification and medications for diabetes and anxiety, according to a report filed by her niece at Liberty police.
Her car was found at a North Jackson Street residence in Youngstown the next day, the report said.
Boffman’s niece Leslie Boffman-Womack, 44, of Liberty, told police she noticed that her aunt was exhibiting “unstable behavior” just before she went missing.
During the show, Grace took an in-depth look at Boffman’s case. She is a black woman who wore her hair in dreadlocks and was 5-feet-9-inches and 180 pounds at the time of her disappearance.
Womack said Tuesday that she hopes the show will bring some answers and closure to Boffman’s three children, ages 28, 24 and 20.
“They’re just having a hard time right now, not knowing what happened to their mother and now dealing with the loss of their father,” Womack said. “Hopefully someone will finally come forward who knows something. Someone has to know something; you can’t just disappear into thin air.”
Womack said the ordeal has been rough on herself as well, as she and Boffman were about the same age and very close.
“It’s hard because we’re only five years apart. We were basically raised together, and our sons are nine months apart,” she said. “It’s been a long wait.”
Liberty Police Chief Richard Tisone said the department will reopen the case, which has been considered cold since 2007, as a result of the episode.
“From an investigative standpoint there’s nothing new. However, because of their story, we are going to issue it back to a detective,” he said. “We’re going to basically restart the investigation.”
Tisone said it’s hard to say what likely happened to Boffman, but he hopes that seeing her story back in the spotlight will bring new information to light.