Betty June Binnicker & Mary Emma Thames
Two young girls were found murdered in Alcolu, South Carolina. George Stinney Jr., a 14-year-old Black boy, was arrested, tried, and executed in 83 days — the youngest person executed in the 20th century US. In 2014, a judge vacated his conviction, ruling his trial was fundamentally unfair. The actual killer was never identified.
Betty June Binnicker & Mary Emma Thames is documented in the ColdCaseIndex database as a multiple-homicide case in Alcolu, South Carolina. The events are dated to March 23, 1944. The case involves more than one victim. The last known information on record places the case at March 23, 1944, Alcolu, SC.
Within the ColdCaseIndex taxonomy, Betty June Binnicker & Mary Emma Thames is filed under Multiple Homicide with a status of Unsolved. A multiple-homicide entry documents an incident involving more than one victim. The record is cross-referenced under the themes homicide, historical, wrongful conviction, exoneration, South Carolina, civil rights, child, which connect it to related cases across the database.
As of the most recent information compiled here, no arrest has been publicly recorded in the Betty June Binnicker & Mary Emma Thames case, and it remains open and unsolved. Cases like this can be reactivated at any time — advances in DNA analysis, forensic genetic genealogy, and renewed public attention have resolved cases that lay dormant for decades.
Primary jurisdiction for the Betty June Binnicker & Mary Emma Thames case rests with local law enforcement in Alcolu, supported by South Carolina state investigative authorities. The case sits within a wider national picture: the U.S. homicide clearance rate has fallen from roughly 90% in the 1960s to about 54% today, and more than 346,000 homicides recorded since 1965 remain unsolved. ColdCaseIndex documents individual cases like this one to keep them publicly visible and searchable.
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Have Information About This Case?
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- FBI Tips (tips.fbi.gov) — submit a tip online to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- FBI Tip Line: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324)
- The local police department or sheriff's office in South Carolina, or the state bureau of investigation
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