30-Year-Old NJ Cold Case Leads To Alleged Killer Who Has Since Died

The multi-agency probe "conclusively identified John Pelletier, formerly of Barnegat Township, as the individual responsible for the murder of Deborah 'Debbie' Ann Bloomquist, 30, of Ocean Township (Monmouth County), in Barnegat in 1991," Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Pelletier passed away in North Dakota in 2015, he said.

On Oct. 26, 1991, the body of a young woman, later identified as Deborah Ann Bloomquist, was discovered in a heavily wooded area in Barnegat. An autopsy performed by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that Bloomquist died from multiple stab wounds and that she was the victim of a sexual assault, Billhimer said.

Biological evidence was collected and preserved; the technology did not exist at that time, however, to submit this evidence for DNA testing, the prosecutor said.

The investigation at the time of her death revealed that Bloomquist had been living in a motel in Monmouth County and was last seen at a tavern in Asbury Park on Oct. 24, 1991. Bloomquist had no known ties to the Barnegat area. No leads were established and the case went cold.

Over a decade after her murder, the biological evidence collected from the scene led to the development of a male DNA profile.

In January 2022, at the direction of Prosecutor Billhimer, the case was presented to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General - Cold Case Task Force and the investigation was reopened. 

Thanks to technological advances - and with the assistance of BODE Technology - detectives were able to identify the male DNA profile collected from the scene in 1991 as belonging to John Pelletier, and reach the conclusion that Pelletier was, in fact, the individual responsible for Bloomquist’s murder, Billhimer said.

“After more than three decades, this hideous crime has, at long last, been solved. Though Pelletier never faced justice for his actions in this life, we nevertheless hope this conclusive determination brings some level of peace and closure to the family of Debbie Ann Bloomquist,” Billhimer said. 

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