Just for the heck of it, I asked 10 Carbon County acquaintances whether they had ever heard of Lausanne Township?

Nearly all of them responded with a question of their own: “Where is it?” They were astounded to learn that it is in their county.

Most replied, “Never heard of it.”

I suppose that they can be forgiven for not knowing, because this tiny municipality near Weatherly on the Carbon-Luzerne border has just 228 residents according to recent population figures, and, because of that, not much happens there, just the way most residents like it.

Earlier this year, however, Lausanne Township made national news when two bodies were found dumped near Eckley Road.

One was identified as a 55-year-old woman; the other was a 60-year-old man, both from Flushing, Queens, New York, and both born in China, according to police reports. Flushing houses New York City’s largest Chinatown community. The two were wrapped in plastic and carpeting that appeared to come from a commercial business.

State police speculate that the two had been killed elsewhere, possibly in the New York metropolitan area, driven 120 miles on Interstate 80, then dumped about 10 miles from the interstate.

When found, both were wearing surgical masks of the type people use for protection from COVID-19, and both were “fashionably dressed,” police said.

Because there have been so many incidents against Asian Americans since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, there is speculation that these two deaths might wind up being investigated as hate crimes by the federal government, but I could get no confirmation that this might happen.

On March 31 of this year, a case dating back almost 45 years came to a rapid conclusion when previously nicknamed “Beth Doe” was identified as Evelyn Colon of Jersey City. Her body, which included her unborn fetus, was dumped along Interstate 80 near White Haven, not far from where the two bodies were found in May.

Her alleged killer, Luis Sierra, then 19, was charged with homicide. Sierra was Colon’s boyfriend and father of the unborn child, police said.

Colon’s body was found on Dec. 20, 1976, but it took nearly 45 years to make a positive identification. Aside from the 15-year-old being pregnant and carrying a 9-month fetus, her body was found dismembered in three suitcases. Police said she had been shot, strangled, sexually assaulted and cut into pieces with a serrated knife.

The suspect is accused of throwing the suitcases off a bridge over the Lehigh River with the expectation of their going into the river where it would be difficult to ever find them. The suspect, however, missed the mark: Two of the suitcases landed in the woods about 20 feet from the river, while the third, which contained the woman’s head and fetus, was found on the river bank.

Police said that because the suitcases fell about 300 feet, two of them opened, causing body parts to be exposed, ultimately leading to their detection.

The body was buried in 1983 after the victim remained unidentified for nearly seven years. In 2007, her remains were exhumed to obtain additional forensic evidence and to create a new facial reconstruction.

Thanks to incredible advances in DNA technology, officials are able to make determinations about a person’s pathology and identify suspects of crimes, things they could never do so successfully before.

Back in February, along another stretch of I-80, this time in Union County, about 75 miles west of White Haven, state police arrested a truck driver in connection with the murder of Rebecca Landrith.

The 47-year-old former model was shot more than 18 times, and her body was spotted by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker where it had been dumped in the snow along a remote stretch of the interstate.

Police picked up Tracy Rollins, a Texas truck driver who was arrested in Connecticut, and charged him with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse. He was extradited to Pennsylvania, where his case is pending in Union County Court.

According to police, Rollins picked up Landrith at a truck stop in Connecticut, and she accompanied him as he drove through Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, then Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, in June, two teenage brothers from Somerset, New Jersey, were arrested in a rural area of Bucks County after a state police trooper spotted them trying to dump the body of a homicide victim in the middle of the night in a remote location.

Police said Anthony Gamble, 19, and Joshua Gamble, 17, stabbed Kevin Rosero, 26, also of Somerset, multiple times, then drove 55 miles to get rid of the body.

It’s hardly a secret why these areas are viewed as ideal candidates for suspects to avoid detection. They’re rural, patrolled sporadically, and, in the dead of night with few other motorists around, those who carry out these deadly deeds are rarely caught in the act, as was the case with the two brothers in Bucks County.

Know this, though, with superior detection devices at their disposal, law enforcement officers never close murder cases, and sooner or later - even if it takes 45 years as it did in the White Haven case - you can run but you can’t hide.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.