Claire Ann Gravel
28
MENTIONS
5
EPISODES
4
PODCASTS
Search complete. 28 mentions across 5 episodes found for "Claire Ann Gravel".
Sep 28, 2026
Deborah RobertsHOST
Well, I went to Salem, Mass to bring you this report, and it is one that I am still thinking about, about a close-knit family, an Irish Catholic family whose lives were forever changed one summer day.
Deborah RobertsHOST
The story revolves around a young woman, 20-year-old college sophomore Claire Gravel.
Deborah RobertsHOST
She was one of six children, as I said, in a proud Irish Catholic family known to be fun and feisty and crazy about sports, according to her family.
Deborah RobertsHOST
She had just begun her life, really.
Deborah RobertsHOST
But I wanna start off by talking a little bit about you.
Deborah RobertsHOST
I am always so intrigued when I have an opportunity to, to meet female detectives because many of you started during a time where there weren't many of you in law enforcement, and you've been in law enforcement now for 40 years.
Deborah RobertsHOST
You were commanding the investigative unit in Essex County before you retired, and I'm just really curious about you because at that time you weren't that much older than Claire Gravel when you had, when you started this case.
Elaine GillGUEST
Yeah, that's true.
speaker_4GUEST
[laughs]
speaker_8GUEST
Claire Gravel, she was 20 years old.
speaker_8GUEST
She was a student at Salem State College.
James GravelGUEST
Claire got involved with a lot of stuff there at Salem State, and ended up working for National Braille Press.
Joni JohnstonGUEST
So of course, the first question is, who is this person? So they look in her purse, they find her wallet, and in her wallet, they find her driver's license.
speaker_10GUEST
The photo appeared to be the same person laying on the ground in the woods.
speaker_10GUEST
The name on that license was Claire Gravel.
speaker_11NARRATOR
One of the very first things police have to figure out is how this person died.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
So I take you to Salem, Massachusetts on Friday, a place that is sort of obviously historically known for some darkness and so forth, to talk about this story of the darkness that just absolutely impacted and devastated a family.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
Claire Gravel, a 20-year-old college student, was out for a night of fun with some friends, and the next day didn't show up for work, and her family began to be worried.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
She was one of six kids in an Irish Catholic family, very close-knit family, and her brothers go out looking for her to no avail, and only for police to lay the groundwork.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
find her body along the roadside.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
Or sometimes we'll talk about, we'll talk to the detective involved or the mom involved who was a crusader to try to solve the crime.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
How it affected them personally.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
In this case, Friday night, Claire Gravel, the lead detective, Elaine Gill, was not much older than the victim.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
She was in her 20s.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
But what I've concluded is it's not about the crime, it's not about the murder, it's about how police were able to solve the case.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
Because often, as is the case on this Friday, the story of Claire Gravel, which we bring to you from Salem, I bring to you from Salem, Massachusetts, I went there to interview her family and folks who were involved in solving this case.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
It's really about how it was solved.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
And also, too, I think people are looking for warning signals, too.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
It's all about the storytelling.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
And I think that's what intrigues people more than it is just the murder.
Deborah RobertsGUEST
And in this case of Claire Gravel, it certainly was a story that just had a lot of twists and turns and took years to solve.
Jeff KaufmanHOST
Now, I get to interview a lot of great celebrities like you, a lot of interesting people I get to deal with.
Dale YurongHOST
Tonight, an all-new season of 2020 returns with a brand-new episode titled The Salem Strangler.
Dale YurongHOST
The premiere centers on the murder case of college student Claire Gravel.
Dale YurongHOST
She was found strangled off to the side of the road just six miles from her apartment in Salem, Massachusetts.
Dale YurongHOST
Action News anchor Corey James spoke with 2020 co-anchor Deborah Roberts about how the case eventually cracked wide open.
Deborah RobertsSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Many of our stories in 2020 actually revolve around this new DNA technology, but that wasn't actually the final thing that cracked this case.
Deborah RobertsSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
There was another episode of an attempted strangulation of a woman whom you'll meet tonight in our 2020 episode who survived that attack.
Deborah RobertsSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
But her story would have a huge impact on solving the Claire Gravel case.
Deborah RobertsSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And it was one of those that for police and for the family, after years of not giving up hope, they finally got the break that they needed.