Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Revere Police Chief Terence Reardon announced a $5,000 reward last week in connection with the 1974 disappearance of a 10-year-old Revere boy.
Leigh Savoie (pronounced Sa-voy), who would now be 45, has been missing since the morning of April 7, 1974, when he left his State Road home in Beachmont to shine shoes at Suffolk Downs in order to buy his mother an Easter present. The cold case has been opened a few times in the last 10 years, but with no results. Now, it appears that a California foundation is prepared to help try to bring some closure to this long-standing mystery.
The Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation, an independent private agency that provides awards in missing persons’ cases, has posted the reward for information leading to Savoie’s return or the prosecution of a suspect in his abduction.
“We are pleased that the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation has provided funding in order to aid us in pursuing a case that we and they consider very much active and worthy of our best efforts through out this passage of time,†Reardon said. “We request that anyone having any information, no matter how trivial, regarding this case contact us in order to contribute to its successful resolution.â€
Conley added, “As long as there’s hope – hope of finding Leigh or hope of finding justice for him – we will not rest. With law enforcement resources bolstered by the Carole Sund/Carrington Foundation, and with the public’s assistance, we have a chance to write this story’s final chapter.â€
Reardon said that Sgt. Det. Amy O’Hara has spearheaded the latest effort and has received some calls about the old case.
Savoie was last seen wearing blue pants, a blue sweater, brown shoes, and a white shirt reading, “Try it, you’ll like it.†He stood about 4’ tall and weighed approximately 60 lbs. He had brown hair and brown eyes.
He was a third grader at the Louis Pasteur School when he went missing.
Savoie sometimes shined shoes at nearby Suffolk Downs. On the day he disappeared, he left home with his shoeshine kit. Later the same afternoon, the owner of a Revere restaurant returned the kit to Savoie’s home, saying the boy had dropped it off earlier in the day on his way to Revere Beach.
Revere Police are investigating the case with the assistance of State Police homicide detectives assigned to Conley’s office. In the absence of other information, the boy is currently classified as missing; should investigators develop substantive evidence that he was a victim of homicide, State Police will take the lead.
Anyone with information on Savoie’s disappearance is urged to call Revere Police at 781-286-8203 or State Police at 617-727-8817. Individuals who were familiar with the boy and/or his neighborhood in the early 1970s are also asked to call.
