The Unsolved Mystery of Miss Baribeau/Snow featuring Sid & the Plastics

This story is the story of a young, single mom who wanted to move back home.   Unfortunately,  on her move, she was murdered at a rest stop.  She had her two boys with her at the time.  Plus, it is still UNSOLVED.   Listen to the story of Jane Baribeau Snow as she attempted to move back home to Escanaba, in the Upper Pennisula.


Leaving you with a happy ending and on a good note, as always.  This week we are featuring  Sid & the Plastics

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Transcript

Jane Snow, Unsolved

1. Originally from the UP growing up on the lake shore in Escanaba.

1.  Escanaba is a gorgeous town located located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula.

1. The bay comes from the fresh waters of Lake Michigan.  So, it’s on the West side.

1. Jane was one of six children by parents John & Mirian Baribeau, she was born on Aprill 11, 1948.

1. The family owned and operated Escanaba Steam Laundry, which is still in business and owned by the family today.

1. Jane was raised going to I believe, St. Joseph which was the predecessor to Holy Name Catholic school.

1. Upon graduation, she attended college to become a nurse.

1. At some point in this time she became married.  I could not find any information on who she married or when.  But we do now she had 2 boys and eventually divorced this man.

1. Jane moved to Grand Rapids to work as a nurse at Mary Free Bed, which is still there to this day, with parapallegic patients.  

1. AT 5’ and 100 lbs she seemed to have no problem working with her patients.

1. It has been said that Jane had a huge spirit and loads of love.

1.  In 1979 Jane was living as a single mom with her 2 boys.

1. Jane lived alone in Grand Rapids for a few years, but in 1979 crime was getting worse there and she really didn’t have a support system here.

1. With encouragement and help from her parents, Jane decided that she would move back home to Escanaba.

1. Her parents had found a place for her, not sure if it was a rental or a house.

1. They also hooked her up with a job, which I must say couldn’t have been easy up there.  Jobs are just plentiful in that area.  Maybe it was working at the Steam Laundry shop??

1. On Tuesday, May 15 1979 Miss Jane packed her 1974 Dodge up with her 2 boys, their cat, their dog Koochie and their belongings. 

1.  The family was moving back to the U.P.   

1.   From Grand Rapids to Escanaba is a 6 hour drive…unless you go on a Friday.  Then it’s like a 15 hour drive.

1.  Some people have said it was an 8 hour trip…most likely so back then.  I know 131 was not the highway it is today…so quite possible.  

1.   Either way, an 8 hour trip with 2 young kids, a dog and a cat sounds like a boat load of fun.

1.   Jane took i-75 heading North with everyone in tow.   The gang stopped at the Ryan Ness rest area/Loon Lake Rest area around 7:30 p.m. that day.   

1.   This rest stop is near Gaylord and is a little less than half way to her destination spot, Escanaba.

1.   They were the only people at Gaylord Rest Area 405

1.   The two boys, ages 7 &9 went to the bathroom in the men's room and Jane went into the women's room.

1.   The boys were fast and they finished first, so they were out playing with their dog and running around having fun.  Some say they were down by the lake,  I wasn’t there, I don’t know for sure.

1.   We do know that Jane took a really long time in the bathroom.  So long that one of the boy’s finally went to check on her.

1.   Sadly, he found her on the bathroom floor, covered in stab wounds.

1.   Smartly, the boy ran to the payphone, which OF COURSE was not working. 

1.   The two boys then went out to I-75 and flagged down a car, they thought it took them about an hour to find someone.

1.   It seems as though the people who found the kids took them to the nearest police station.  Which would have been in Gaylord.  Don’t quote me on this…but that is my guess.

1. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Jane had been stabbed numerous times.  23 times to be exact.

1.  Her purse was near her, contents undisturbed.

1.  The evidence was collected and saved.

1.   The weapon, the knife, was not in the immediate area.

1. They really could not figure out the motive for this random rest stop murder.

1.   Why leave the boys unharmed?

1.   Approximately the same time that Jane’s life was being erased, a local officer had pulled over to pick up a hitchhiker just half a mile from the rest area.

1.   The officer gave John McGawley, a 28 year old man from Pontiac a ride to the next exit.

1.   It did not take long to realize that John was the only known person in the rural area at the same time that Jane was murdered.   He was only ½ mile away when the officer picked him up.

1.   They found out where John was staying with a friend and picked him up for questioning.   He had blood on his shirt, so they took that in evidence.

1.   John “Mad Dog” McGawley was a former Marine who became a drifter. 

1.   His list of wrong doing’s was getting longer.    

1.   John had served time in Rhode Island’s prison and had an arrest warrant out for him from Rhode Island for forgery.

1.   John and his wife had been driving on i-75 earlier that day.  

1. John was drinking that day and had been fighting and had physical altercations with his wife’s family.
2. The two left and began fighting and when John threw a beer bottle at the windshield, she pulled over and kicked his ass out of the car.

1.   The last she saw him, he was walking south bound on i-75, they had been coming from Indian River, which is directly north of Gaylord.

1.   When fighting with your wife and getting stuck walking, I guess you need to hit up local bars. 

1.   John was known to have gone to a bar in Onoway and near the Indian River area.  He must have been kicked out of the car soon after the drive started.

1.   The Onoway bar thing is iffy to me, again, I’m no detective but it is East of i-75 a ways.  Maybe he hitched there and back to the Gaylord area.

1.   John hitchhiked to Gaylord.

1.   His crime of opportunity came when he walked his sorry ass by the rest area and saw Jane’s 1974 Dodge sitting all alone in the parking area.

1.   Upon arrest, the blood traced back to John himself from the physical altercation earlier in the day.

1.   John was apparently extradited to Rhode Island and arrested, although I could not confirm this.

1.   But in 1997 there was a case break through.

1.   John’s bunkie turned snitch when he stated that John admitted to stabbing Jane.  He intended to steal her car but when she fought back, he freaked out and stabbed her.   23 times.

1.   He didn’t take anything at all and he ran from the rest area, he says that when he turned around he noticed the two boys at the vehicle and he said he saw one of the boy’s heading toward the bathroom.

1.   Sadly, the snitch clipped his ankle monitor off whilst out on parole and got out of the state.  

1.  Anything he said regarding John after that had lost it’s credibility.  Sadly, he passed away a few years later.

1.   Loads of tips were investigated and none of them panned out.  

1.   It was known that the family called or gave tips falsely.

1.   Detective Heart has interviewed John numerous times.   Hart talked to him last in 2015 when John still adamantly denied killing Jane.

1.   There was another person who was intensely investigated but they had problems with the person being factual and some of the tips had been given by the family. 

1.   John spent a bit of time in jail for many reasons:

-escaping incarceration

-Receiving stolen property

-DUI

-Numerous retail frauds

1.   John was paroled from jail in January 2017 and died from OD in September 2017.

1.   There is still no answer to Jane’s death.  

1.   The police are taking special care to preserve the evidence from this case for future use.

1.   May 15, 1979 changed the lives of Jane’s family forever.   If you were in the area, or know anything about Jane’s death to contact the Gaylord police department.

1.   A little bit of light:  The children of John & Miriam…the siblings to Jane created a scholarship program to Bay College.

1.   The pre req?  You have to live in the Delta County and you need to pursue a NURSING DEGREE.

1.   Because, that is what Jane would want.