Case Profiles #96
Quinton Jones
The words people used to describe Quinton Jones were beyond complimentary. The devoted father of one young daughter, Quinton was the kind of family man who made everyone feel special. When he wasn’t working as a truck driver, which he did for many years, he was traveling or shopping. He had a taste “for the finer things” and would spoil his daughter to no end. He was a wonderful person inside and out with a pure heart. Unfortunately, Quinton’s life was cut tragically short. On November 21st, 2021, the New Haven Police Department received a call at around 7:30 a.m. reporting a “strangely parked” Nissan Maxima near a vacant lot on Ogden Street. The car, which appeared abandoned at first glance, was pointing the wrong way down the street and was straddling the curb. 40-year-old Quinton was unresponsive in the driver seat, and there was clear evidence of gunshot damage on the side of the car. The police didn’t arrive until just after 9:00 a.m., and they pronounced Quinton dead. It appeared that he had been struck by a bullet in his pelvic area and bled out from the wound over time. To this day, there have been no leads in the case. Anyone with any information surrounding the murder of Quinton Jones is asked to please contact the New Haven Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 866-888-8477.
Virginia Sue Pictou-Noyes
Virginia Sue Pictou-Noyes was a Native American woman, specifically Mi’gmaw. She was one of 13 children and her siblings remember her always being caring, nurturing and looking out for all of them. She lived in Easton, Maine but many of her family lived in Nova Scotia and are of the Membertou First Nation. Virginia became a mom at a young age with her first child being born when she was 14-years-old. She had seven children, her youngest three with the man she married at the age of 22, Larry Noyes. Virginia absolutely adored her kids and was as kind and nurturing of a mother as she was to her siblings growing up. Devastatingly, tragedy struck in October of 1990 when a fire broke out in Virginia’s trailer in Fort Fairfield. She and her children, five in total at this time, were asleep when the oldest child ran to wake her and warn her that their home was on fire. Within just three minutes, the entire trailer was engulfed in flames. After getting out with three of her children, she desperately tried to save her two and a half year old daughter Ashley Sue Noyes and her 17-month-old son Jesse James Pictou, but she couldn’t get to them due to the heavy smoke and the flames. Virginia and Larry had two more children after this, but to add to the devastation, she lost custody of three of her children and they were adopted by another family. The remainder of her children were adopted out after her disappearance.
Virginia risked her life multiple times saving her children and trying to get back inside for the others, and she was an incredibly devoted mom. This has led her family to question what actually happened around her disappearance, because a woman who would run into a burning building for her children would never willingly leave them. 26-year-old Virginia Pictou-Noyes was last seen on April 24th, 1993. That night, she was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine after she sustained injuries outside of a nearby tavern from an assault at the hands of her husband Larry and his brother Roger Noyes Jr. Virginia was said to have been seen in the early morning hours, now the next day, at a truck stop in Houlton, Maine, attempting to make phone calls and find a ride to her home in Easton, Maine. For reference, Houlton is over two hours away from Bangor. Virginia, wanting to get back home to her children, discharged from the hospital against medical advice at around 1:00 a.m. before her check in was fully completed. She never made it home.
After her disappearance, Larry and Roger both had their charges dropped as there could not be conviction without the testimony of the victim of their crime of assault. Given this and their actions leading up to Virginia’s disappearance, they are considered by police as well as Virginia’s family as the prime suspects in her disappearance. Both men had notable criminal histories with records of arson, vandalism, burglary and in Larry’s case, domestic abuse against Virginia with Virginia having confided in friends and family about him hitting and getting physical with her. Virginia had tried to leave with her children on multiple occasions, but as abusers do, Larry always apologized and said he would change. After her disappearance, Larry claimed Virginia had left a note saying she would return when her children turned 18. Both men have since passed away and there have been no further leads in Virginia’s disappearance.
Her family and friends continue to fight for answers and feel strongly that she has been murdered. Her family wishes to find her remains to give her a proper burial, as in Native American practice they want to allow her spirit to rest. At a later press conference for the 25th anniversary of Virginia’s disappearance, Agnes stated, “The first night after she went missing, my brother David and I literally drove up and down I-95 to measure the time it might take to walk or ride from Bangor to Houlton. Then we drove that same route again, stopping at every rest area, every turnoff and truck stop along the way. We did the same thing from Houlton to Mars Hill to Presque Isle to Easton.” Agnes also stated, “We’ve searched near lakes, rivers, fields, forests, abandoned buildings, the swamp near her home in Easton, anywhere where someone might dump a body.” Her family continues to advocate for Virginia as well as other missing and murdered Indigenous women.
At the time of her disappearance, Virginia was 26-years-old, 5’5” and 125lbs. She was last seen wearing a denim jacket, denim jeans, a white t shirt and white sneakers. She is Native American with brown hair and eyes. Virginia has a V-shaped scar on her right forearm muscle and a tattoo of a Playboy bunny on her left shoulder. Anyone with any information on the disappearance of Virginia Sue Pictou-Noyes is asked to please call the Maine State Police at 207-532-2261.
Image sources:
newhavenindependent.org - “Man, 40, Found Shot Dead in Car”
kukukwes.com - “MMIW Series: Virginia Sue Pictou-Noyes”