New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

A new photo of the victim in a murder case that has been ongoing for nearly 30 years has been released, officials in New Hampshire said, in hopes of finding any new potential witnesses in the cold case.

“Our family wants to know what happened, who did it and why,” Rosalie Miller’s family said in a news release. “We miss her and want to give her peace.”

Miller was last seen on December 8, 1996 at her apartment in Manchester. At the time of her disappearance, Miller was planning to meet friends in the Auburn, New Hampshire, area, officials said.

Her body was found on Jan. 20, 1997, in a partially wooded area on a residential lot along Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn, officials said in the release.

An autopsy report declared Miller’s death a homicide by asphyxia due to ligature strangulation, New Hampshire state officials wrote.

As part of a new effort to enlist public assistance in the case, an “uncirculated” photo of Miller, 36, is being distributed “in the hope that it will memorialize someone who saw or spoke to her in the winter of 1996,” U.S. Attorney John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced on behalf of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in a joint news release.

Investigators particularly hope to speak to anyone who had contact with Miller in December 1996 or anyone who “may have seen her near the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn during that period,” officials said in the statement.

“We are releasing this new photo today because we believe someone has information, perhaps details they thought were insignificant at the time, that could be the key to solving this case and getting justice for Rosalie and those who loved her,” said Chief Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles, head of New Hampshire’s cold case unit, said in the statement.

The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit encourages anyone with any amount of information to contact the group at [email protected] Or (603) 271-2663.