Galanick, Pamela: 1969
Authorities found the badly decomposed body of Pamela Jane Galanick, about 4 years old, hidden in a chest under a house trailer, January 24, 1969(?) An autopsy set the date of death as about October 31, 1968, but the cause of death was not disclosed. Police arrested the Hollidaysburg couple living in the trailer, Joseph Galanick, 27, and his wife, Marsha, 23 and jailed them for failing to report the death of an infant.
Pamela’s grandparents, Mr and Mrs Melvin Lytle, of Altoona, had asked Blair County Child Welfare to investigate as they thought something was wrong. They were not permitted to visit the girl, who they had cared for while the parents were in Virginia. When they pressed the parents, there was always an excuse; sickness or visiting the neighbors.
A police detective, a caseworker, and the Lytles’ attorney visited the trailer and demanded to see Pamela. Mrs. Galanick said she was visiting neighbors; the three officals then went to Stanley Electric Corporation, where Mr. Galanick worked and arrested him. He admitted the child was dead, and her body in old metal chest under the trailer. Police found her there, wrapped in an old cloth. The coroner, D. Harold Broxel, was not able to give an immediate cause of death.
The grand jury indicted them in May of 1969. Three other Galanick children were place in the care of Blair County Child Welfare.
