TUSCALOOSA, Ala (WIAT) – The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes unit is asking the public to come forward with any information that can lead to the arrest of the person who killed Chanda Fehler in 1987.
Chanda Fehler was a kindergarten teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary school and a University of Alabama Graduate Student.
June 10, 1957 her car was found in the Riverside Pool parking lot on the University of Alabama’s campus. Her door was open and her personal belongings were still inside.
Chanda Fehler was nowhere to be found, until four days later when fisherman found her body in the Black Warrior River.
Her killer was never found.
“We’ll never, ever give up ever,” Allison Fehler Sherrill said.
Sherrill, and her two other siblings – Kristin Fehler O’Connor, Earnest Fehler Jr, and sister-in-law, Krista Fehler – appeared in the Tuscaloosa’s VCU press conference room on Friday along side VCU’s Captain for the latest in this cold case.
“The Sheriff's Office, along with some technologies that we’ve obtained in the last year, along with our crime scene unit aided with the Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery and in Hoover have begun an intensive evaluation of all the physical evidence involved in this case,” VCU Captain Jack Kennedy said.
Kennedy said that some of the forensic techniques and technology being used are modern state of the art, never used before in Alabama.
“We’re hopeful that there are going to be leads that come from this testing,” Kennedy added.
While the family of Chanda Fehler remain optimistic that justice can finally be served, they also don’t want to get their hopes up.
“I think we all three feel like we’re closer today than we ever have been in these 38 years,” Sherill said.
“We’re optimistically trying not to get too excited about is this new technology with the forensics. This did not exist in 1987 or for several years after that,” O’Connor added.
While new technology could help finally crack this cold case, VCU still needs help from the public, and Kennedy believes someone, somewhere has answers.
“Eyewitness testimony is just as important as forensic evidence,” Kennedy said. “It has been 38 years since this has occurred, and if there is anyone out there that has any information that has been holding onto it for 38 years – it is now time to come forward with it.”
Since Chanda Fehler’s murder, investigators believed the killer knew her. While motives cannot be shared because the case remains under investigation, VCU is pleading that others share what they know.
“There are people who have personal information about suspects that can help solve crimes,” Kennedy said.
In 1987, multiple witnesses were interviewed. However, those interviewed said they never heard or saw anything. But Kennedy says conversations the killer had with others in the community could create a lead – even if those conversations did not include a person directly saying they killed Chanda Fehler.
“Now is the time to come forward. Now is the time to provide closure for Chanda and her family. Now is the time that any information you provide is worth $10,000, and now is the time to do the right thing,” Kennedy said.
Anyone who can provide any information is asked to reach out to VCU Captain Jack Kennedy directly at (205)-464-8692.