CONCORD — Janet Gloddy Young's voice broke and her knees shook but she gripped the lectern in the standing-room-only hearing room before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday and urged its members to pass the cold case bill.

"I'm the middle child," she began softly, almost unable to talk about the 1971 murder of her youngest sister and the effects the unsolved crime has had on her and her family. "We need this bill. We've had no answers."

Young, who lives in Northfield, was one of three Gloddy sisters who went to the State House to plead for the committee's favorable recommendation on House Bill 690, the bill that would create and fund a cold-case homicide unit that would be dedicated to solving the murder of Kathy Lynn Gloddy and nearly 100 other unsolved New Hampshire murders that have taken place since 1970.

The cold-case homicide unit, if created, would involve two full-time homicide detectives, a full-time paralegal, and a part-time attorney who would be attached to the State Attorney General's Office.

The Gloddy sisters — Young, Karen Beaudoin of Ohio and Ann Ring of Somersworth, dressed alike in gray slacks with black shirts emblazoned with Kathy Lynn's photo. Each held two daisies surrounded by baby's breath.

"Kathy and I shared a room; we were a year apart," testified Beaudoin who does a great deal of the speaking for the family and who soon will publish a book about her baby sister's murder, the ensuing investigation, and the toll it took on her life and the lives of her family.

Karen Sue Gloddy Beaudin, whose teenage sister, Kathy Lynn Gloddy, was murdered in Franklin in 1971, testifies before the state senate in favor of House Bill 690 that would establish a cold case unit to investigate unsolved murders. (DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO) * Order a print of this photo

Following the testimony, Beaudoin revealed that private investigator Thomas Shamshak, the former police chief of Spencer, Mass., who, in his retirement, founded Shamshak Investigative Services, has joined her family in their search for Kathy Lynn's killer.

Shamshak also works with the Molly Bish Foundation, an organization founded in the memory of Warren, Mass., lifeguard Molly Bish who disappeared on June 27, 2000, shortly after her mother dropped her off at work.

The extensive search for Bish was the largest and most costly of its kind in Massachusetts history and came to its conclusion on June 9, 2003, three years and just five miles from her family home.

Although there has been no conviction in her abduction and murder, in January the Boston Globe reported that Bish's oldest sister had credited Shamshak with linking her sister's disappearance and murder to a Sommerfield, Fla., man who was arrested in February 2008 for killing his wife.

"I have spoken to the family and people in law enforcement," said Shamshak who also testified in favor of HB 690. "The ingredients for success are there. [It will take] some shoe leather, records research and interviews. We will leave no stone unturned."

Thomas Shamshak, a private invesigator who works for the Molly Blish Foundation, testifies in favor of House Bill 690 that would establish a cold case unit to investigate unsolved murders. (DARYL CARLSON/CITIZEN PHOTO) * Order a print of this photo

Acting Franklin Police Chief David Goldstein, a retired N.H. State Police captain, said he has not spoken to Shamshak.

"Any unsolved homicide is under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General's Office," said Goldstein.

Beaudoin said the Franklin police have been wonderful in their treatment of her and her family and she understands the 38-year-old case is very frustrating for them.

"It's just that they are so busy," said Beaudoin, recalling how the Franklin police reopened the case in 1983, in 2004, and again in 2006 when following a tip that came from a Florida man who was a tenant in the Gloddy home when Kathy Lynn was murdered. "This is why a state cold-case unit is so important. We need to use all available resources."

Beaudoin said she can recall the night Kathy Lynn was murdered as if it were yesterday.

"I was at the Franklin High School at a pep rally," she said.

"That night I walked home, alone," she continued. Franklin High School is about three blocks from the former Gloddy home.

"That was the last place Kathy Lynn was seen alive. Someone said they saw her looking through the windows at the high school," Beaudoin said. "I think she was looking for me."

She said she and her sister (Young) were the only two of the six Gloddy children living at home when Kathy Lynn was murdered. "Our parents," she said, pausing, "it was almost like they checked out."

"There was no counseling then. Janet and I really had to deal with a lot," she said, adding that, for years, she was afraid to be alone, to take a shower, to walk at night.

She said those fears have abated over the years but every time the case is reopened all the memories come flooding back.

Beaudoin, who said her book about Kathy Lynn's murder spans the time between Kathy Lynn's disappearance in 1971 through the time the case was first reopened in 1983 and recalls details about the murder, said it really is more about what she and her family went through and how they dealt with their sister's murder.

Beaudoin said her family also is doing fundraising so they can offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed Kathy Lynn.

"In 1971, there was a $2,500 reward," she said, adding that they hope to raise considerably more than that and are looking into various ways to raise money.

"Every time the media does a story about this, there is a flurry of activity," said Young, noting that four people came forward after the case was reopened in 2004. "People came out of the woodwork."

If anyone has any information about this case, they can call Shamshak at 1-800-422-0944.

The number for the Franklin Police Department is 934-2525 and the Franklin Police Department Crimeline is 934-4092.