Ten years later, police still searching for killer of Waterford man
Dec. 22—WATERFORD — Wednesday marked 10 years since resident Kyle Seidel left home to pick up Chinese food for his family and never returned.
Seidel's murder on Dec. 21, 2012 at the Family Bowl, which has since become an Aldi supermarket, has gone cold for the last decade, but police said they are still working on solving the homicide.
In order to do so, Police Lt. Tim Silva said the department needs the community's help.
Seidel, who was married with three children at the time of his death, was shot in the neck on his way to pick up dinner at the Lucky Inn on Boston Post Road. He died from a gunshot wound in the former Family Bowl bowling alley parking lot, a half mile from the Chinese restaurant.
Without delving into specifics, Silva said the department has a "solid direction and focus" for the investigation and is in the process of verifying the information already collected. He said they're looking for corroborating stories that people may not feel are necessary to tell.
Silva said there's been "a lot of movement" in the case over the last two years as investigators try to tell the difference between the truth and rumors. He said he feels confident in the progression of the case because the department has come across pieces to the story that are hard to disprove.
The department is not identifying suspects to the witnesses who come forward as a way to create a sense of anonymity.
"We want to get everybody that was at the bowling alley to come forward that night to tell us what they did," Silva said Wednesday.
Silva explained that the biggest obstacle in the early stages of the investigation was the general lack of information, whether people stayed quiet out of fear or from shock due to the senseless nature of the crime. He said there is no clear reason as to why Seidel was at the bowling alley to begin with. He added the investigation only gets more difficult as more time passes, but the search for new information never ends.
Waterford police are focused on the people that were at the bowling alley that night as well which cars were seen in the parking lot and leaving. Smartphones were just gaining in popularity at the time of the crime, so Silva is not expecting any mobile phone video or photo evidence to appear. The lack of wifi hotspots and location technology in 2012 does not help investigators either.
Silva is hopeful someone has an image burned into their memory that they have yet to tell police about.
Police placed an ad in Wednesday's edition of The Day seeking information. Silva said the department uses the anniversary of the homicide as well as Seidel's birthday, April 16, to remind the public as it brings more people "out of the woodwork."
On Wednesday, the department's Facebook page posted a photo of Seidel and asked the community for help in the investigation.
Those who may have information about the homicide are urged to call police at 860-442-9451 or detectives directly at 860-442-0645. People can also email cold.case@ct.gov, call the Cold Case Tip Line at 1 (866) 623-8058 or the Waterford Police Anonymous Tip Line at (860) 437-8080. Police say all calls will be kept confidential.
In 2014, former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy authorized a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the death of Seidel at the request of Michael L. Regan, who was the New London state's attorney at the time. The post said that reward is still available.
"Even if they think somebody already told us about it, it's important that they come and tell us what they saw, what they remember," Silva said.
Silva said he stays in contact with the family and talks with them monthly, and talked with his mother, Darlene Seidel, on Wednesday morning.
Seidel, who worked at a marina, was previously described as a family man and homebody by his mother.
"We want the family to know that their child, who was murdered, is not on the backburner," Silva said. "We're doing everything we can because they've been waiting a long time."
Seidel's wife, Kate, runs the Facebook page "Justice for Kyle Seidel," as a way to keep the public involved.
The state police's cold case unit based in Rocky Hill is leading the investigation into Seidel's death, with Waterford Police and the New London County States Attorney's Office also involved.
Silva said the department has a great working relationship with the cold case unit, which was previously the Southeastern Connecticut Cold Case Task Force before budgetary constraints force it to be absorbed by the statewide cold case bureau that works out of the Division of Criminal Justice in Rocky Hill.
Silva explained that between the number of unsolved cases and the cases that are going to trial, the task force has to "spread their resources" a bit more. He said Waterford police and the state cold case unit are still working together and providing each other with information as they continue to search for Seidel's killer.
"This is our case," Silva said. "It's impacted a family in our community so we're definitely trying to do as much as we can with it."
