Advertisement
Advertisement
A photo of Kristin G Huggins

Kristin G Huggins 1970 - 1992

Kristin Gale Huggins was born on January 7, 1970 in Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania United States, and had a brother John Steven Huggins. Kristin Huggins died at age 22 years old on December 17, 1992 in Trenton, Mercer County, NJ, and was buried at Newtown Cemetery in Newtown, Bucks County, PA. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Kristin G Huggins.
Kristin Gale Huggins
January 7, 1970
Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States
December 17, 1992
Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States
Female
Looking for another Kristin Huggins?

Kristin Gale Huggins' History: 1970 - 1992

Uncover new discoveries and connections today by sharing about people & moments from yesterday.
  • Introduction

    Kristin Gale Huggins was born to James George Huggins (born 1944). James was born in New Jersey and Kristin had one brother. A talented mural artist, Kristin excelled while attending Pennsbury High School. On the morning of December 17, 1992, twenty-two year old Kristin Huggins drove her red Toyota MR2 sports car from her parents' home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to the Trenton Club in downtown Trenton, New Jersey.   She intended to paint a mural, but was never able to perform that task. When Huggins did not return home on December 17th, her parents immediately reported her missing. It turned out that Ambrose Harris was determined that he would commit a holdup and enlisted Gloria Dunn to assist him. Just out of prison after serving 13 years, Harris spotted Kristin Huggins drive her Toyota into the parking lot of the Trenton Club, and announced “I’m going to get that b****.” He accosted Ms. Huggins, commandeered her car, and drove off after his accomplice, Gloria Dunn, joined them in the car. Harris drove to a deserted area under a bridge near Route One and Perry Street, where he forced Kristin Huggins into the trunk. He then drove around in the car, eventually returning to the area under the bridge. There, he took Kristin out of the trunk and raped her. He then put her back in the trunk, and shot her in the back of the head. He hid the body under a mattress in the deserted area. Harris then left to get a shovel to bury her body. When he returned, he shot her again, this time in the face, to be sure she was dead. He then dug a shallow grave in which he and his accomplice buried Kristin Huggins. The killing took place Dec. 17, 1992, and the victim’s body wasn't found until Feb. 18, 1993. Gloria Dunn -- apparently hoping to collect the posted $25,000 reward -- contacted the police months after the murder, claiming to be a psychic who could lead them to the missing young woman. Her dubious story quickly unraveled, and she confessed to her role in the kidnapping and slaying of Huggins, after leading police to her badly decomposed body. By the time he was tried, convicted and given the death sentence for her murder, Harris was already serving a life term in prison, required to spend 30 years in jail without parole as a persistent offender for an unrelated 1993 armed robbery conviction. According to news accounts, when Harris was sentenced in 1996, he was asked if he had anything to say to his victim’s parents, who were in the courtroom . Harris turned and suggested that Huggins’ parents apologize to him. His outburst caused the judge to remove him from the courtroom. Ambrose Harris remains on death row, having added another murder to his resume. While on Death Row, Harris attacked and killed another Death Row inmate, Robert “Mudman” Simon, a beefy, scraggly long-haired and long-bearded 48-year-old outlaw biker, with several previous murder convictions. Simon was convicted in 1974 for killing his girlfriend after she refused to cooperate in her gang rape by Simon’s friends and fellow Warlocks. While serving time for that heinous murder at Graterford Prison in Philadelphia, he knifed and killed another inmate in 1984. Like his future killer, Simon pleaded self-defense and was acquitted. Despite his two killings, Simon was paroled. Only 11 weeks later, Simon murdered police Sgt. Ippolito (Lee) Gonzalez in Gloucester County, New Jersey. This third murder earned him the death penalty but that was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the death penalty was abolished in New Jersey in 2007. In 2020, Oxygen True Crime reported on this horrendous crime and Kristen's family's reaction. See ‘She Never Deserved It’: . See a December, update to the story, including the final disposition of the killers, at Where are Ambrose Harris and Gloria Dunn Now?.
  • 01/7
    1970

    Birthday

    January 7, 1970
    Birthdate
    Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania United States
    Birthplace
  • Ethnicity & Family History

    Kristin was Caucasian. Her father was born in New Jersey.
  • Nationality & Locations

    A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Kristin lived in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, She was murdered in Trenton, New Jersey at the young age of 22 and was buried in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
  • Early Life & Education

    Kristin attended Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
  • Military Service

    Kristen never served in the military.
  • Professional Career

    Kristin was a student and an artist - she was very talented and painted murals.
  • Personal Life & Family

    Murdered at the young age of 22, Kristin never married nor had children. Kristin Huggins Memorial Awards are offered by Temple University's Tyler College of Art as well as Pennsbury High School Partners Program.
  • 12/17
    1992

    Death

    December 17, 1992
    Death date
    Gunshot to the head
    Cause of death
    Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey United States
    Death location
  • Gravesite & Burial

    mm/dd/yyyy
    Funeral date
    Newtown Cemetery in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania 18940, United States
    Burial location
  • share
    Memories
    below
Advertisement
Advertisement

9 Memories, Stories & Photos about Kristin

Where are Ambrose Harris and Gloria Dunn Now?
Kristin Huggins Murder:

Kristin Huggins was a young artist looking forward to a new job after graduation. However, her sudden disappearance had the worried family make repeated pleas for more information. Sadly, Kristin’s dead body was found a few months after she vanished. The story of how the authorities got there forms the focus of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Nightmare Next Door: The Art of Murder.’ So, let’s find out more about this case then, shall we?

How Did Kristin Huggins Die? Kristin was born in January 1970 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She was a graduate of Temple University’s art school in Pennsylvania and was commissioned to paint a mural at a health club in Trenton, New Jersey. The 22-year-old had been living with her parents and hoped to save up to start living on her own. On December 17, 1992, she left home at around 9:30 AM to head to Trenton for work. However, Kristin never made it back home. In fact, she never showed up for work either. Kristin’s parents reported her missing soon after checking in with family and friends. The search yielded an immediate lead when Kristin’s car was found in a tow lot in Trenton the next day. However, it was covered in mud, and the tires were slashed. There was a definite attempt to conceal evidence. In February 1993, new information led the police to Kristin’s body in a desolate area in Trenton. She was found buried in a shallow grave. An autopsy revealed that Kristin was sexually assaulted and shot twice in the head with a .22-caliber firearm.

Who Killed Kristin Huggins? After Kristin’s car was discovered, hair and other fibers were collected for forensic examination. The authorities had a break in the case when some teenagers told the officers that they had taken a ride in Kristin’s car. According to them, their uncle had told them about carjacking a woman and killing her. The culprit was identified as Ambrose Harris. By then, he was already in jail for kidnapping another woman. He also had prior convictions for assaulting several other women. Ambrose was captured on surveillance cameras trying to withdraw money from an ATM using Kristin’s card. At the time of his arrest, he had a .22-caliber gun on him that was later confirmed as the murder weapon. However, the authorities still didn’t know where Kristin was at that point. While the hair found in the car matched Ambrose, he refused to talk to the police, leaving them to figure out what happened. Then, Kristin’s parents announced a reward of $25,000 for any information regarding their daughter. This led to a tip from Gloria Dunn. At the time, she claimed to be a psychic who had a vision of where Kristin’s body was located. She led the police to a remote area in Trenton in February 1993, where the decomposed remains were found. This aroused suspicion regarding Gloria’s involvement.

Upon interrogation, Gloria admitted to being with Ambrose when the murder took place. She told the police that on December 17, 1992, Ambrose proposed they rob a local sandwich shop. However, it was raining that morning, and Ambrose only had a bicycle. When he saw Kristin pull into the Trenton health club, he decided to take the car. Gloria stated that Ambrose forced Kristin into the truck, drove to a desolate area where he raped the 22-year-old. Ambrose then shot Kristin once in the head. Gloria added that Ambrose left her body under a mattress under some bushes and they drove to his mother’s house to get shovels. They returned, dug a shallow grave, and dumped Kristin in there. Ambrose shot her again before filling the grave. The medical examiner did find dirt in Kristin’s lungs, which meant that she was possibly alive while being buried.

Where Are Ambrose Harris and Gloria Dunn Now? Ambrose’s trial began in January 1996. Throughout the proceedings, he showed no remorse and accused the court staff and spectators of being racist. Ambrose was found guilty of multiple charges that included felony murder, kidnapping, robbery, and aggravated sexual assault, among others. The defense argued that his abusive childhood was a mitigating factor. Nevertheless, Ambrose was sentenced to death, but that was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the death penalty was abolished in New Jersey in 2007.

Gloria, who was about 33 years old at the time of the trial, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and robbery charges. She agreed to testify against Ambrose in exchange for a sentence of 30 years behind bars. It seems that Gloria has since been released from prison, but information regarding her current whereabouts seems scarce. As for Ambrose, he beat another inmate to death in 1999, but a jury acquitted him of murder as they ruled it was self-defense. On November 17, 2020, Ambrose died at the age of 68 while incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. The cause of death was not made public.

- From the website "TheCinemaholic" written by Viswa Vanapalli on December 15, 2021.
Comments
Leave a comment
The simple act of leaving a comment shows you care.
‘She Never Deserved It’:
Loved Ones Recall Kidnapping, Murder Of Beloved Artist

After Kristin Huggins failed to show up to her first job in the winter of 1992, police were tasked with finding a killer. young woman whose life was full of promise saw her future tragically — and violently — cut short after she found herself at the wrong place at the wrong time on a cold winter day in 1992. On December 17, 1992, 22-year-old Kristin Huggins was preparing to travel from her home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Trenton, New Jersey for her first real job. A recent graduate of Temple University's art school, Kristin had been hired to paint a mural at a health club in Trenton. She left for her 9:30 a.m. appointment that morning, but she failed to return home that night.

When her parents, James and Karen Huggins, noticed Kristin's car was still not in the driveway the following morning, they began to worry. They reached out to their son, who was the one who recommended Kristin for the job opportunity, to see if he'd heard from her, at which point they learned that he'd gotten a call the previous day from the health club manager, informing him that Kristin had never shown up for her appointment that morning. "For her to miss it, it was not her character," Suzette Parmley, a correspondent with the NJ Law Journal, told Oxygen's “Buried in the Backyard” airing Thursdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.

After the concerned parents reached out to Kristin's best friend Adina Glorioso and found she also hadn't heard from Kristin, they reported their daughter missing. Police met with the family and began to investigate. Because Kristin was excited about beginning her art career, they quickly ruled out the possibility that she'd disappeared of her own accord. "The parents were devastated. They knew there was trouble here," Joe Constance, a retired Deputy Chief with the Trenton Police Department, told producers.

A lead in the case came the following day when police received troubling news: Kristin's car had been found, but she wasn’t in it. A patrolman in Trenton who'd heard about the case remembered seeing a car that fit the description of Kristin's vehicle in a local tow lot. It turned out the car was hers — but the vehicle was in bad shape. It was dirty, the license plates had been removed, and all four tires were flat. "Mud was packed in the inside and outside of the car, which tells us that someone is trying to cover up possible evidence, like fingerprints, from a crime," Constance said.

Kristin's personal belongings, like her art supplies and purse, were also missing from the vehicle, but authorities were able to retrieve evidence in the form of hair and other fibers from the car. Detectives interviewed those in Kristin's circle and learned from her best friend that a classmate named Daniel had been relentlessly pursuing Kristin and that his interest had turned into harassment. Kristin had told her friends that he wouldn't take no for an answer and his behavior had begun to scare her.

Police brought Daniel in for questioning and were disturbed by his behavior: While speaking to authorities, he had a nonchalant demeanor and the smile never fell from his face, authorities recalled. He also refused to take a polygraph test, further sparking suspicion. However, after police found that his alibi — he was working and hanging out with friends when Kristin went missing — checked out, they had no choice but to rule him out as a suspect.

Meanwhile, Kristin's loved ones were wracked with anxiety. "We didn't know where she was. We all knew something was wrong," Adina Glorioso told producers. As the investigation wore on, police tried a new tactic and traced Kristin's journey to New Jersey on the day that she disappeared. Spotting a convenience store along her presumed route, they decided to try their luck with the store manager, who told them that he didn't remember seeing Kristin but gave them hours of security footage to review.

The tapes provided a huge break in the case: Kristin was caught on camera buying coffee and cigarettes on the morning that she disappeared. She didn't seem distressed and didn't talk to anyone; her car was also still clean at that point, which led authorities to conclude that whatever had happened to her happened after she left the store and was headed to her appointment.

Police spoke to the health club manager Kristin was supposed to meet with, who recalled seeing a man on the property the morning that Kristin was supposed to arrive. He asked the man why he was there, and the stranger claimed that he'd come to retrieve his bike. It was a promising lead. Police feared Kristin could have come into contact with this mysterious stranger in the parking lot of the health club, so they quickly did a canvassing of the area in an attempt to find him. However, that proved fruitless, as did the family's local search for Kristin. "Honestly, we felt in despair. You're searching and you're searching and you can't find this person, and the longer it went on, the more painful it became," Glorioso said.

As the weeks dragged on, Kristin's parents made the decision to appear on television for information regarding their daughter's disappearance. Mere days later, police received a valuable tip: A few teens told authorities that they'd seen Kristin's parents' plea and felt guilty. They admitted that they'd ridden in Kristin's car with their uncle, who told them that he'd carjacked the vehicle from a girl and killed her. They were afraid to come forward because they feared their uncle would hurt them, too, if they did. "We couldn't believe what we heard from these 14-year-old kids," Constance told producers.

The teens said that their uncle had even shown them Kristin's ID and other cards in her wallet, and that he had tried, unsuccessfully, to use her debit card to withdraw money from an ATM. Finally, police had a real lead: Ambrose Harris, a man who'd been convicted for assaulting five other women, both before and after he was believed to have attacked and killed Kristin. "He was a serial rapist and a serial kidnapper," Carmen Salvatore, a retired detective with the Trenton Police Department, told producers.

In a strange turn of events, Harris had already been arrested for kidnapping another woman after his encounter with Kristin, so he was already in jail. However, when they tried to question him about what had happened to Kristin, he refused to talk. Still, they were able to test his hair and found that it matched the hair found in Kristin's car, and fibers from his clothing were found to match remnants recovered from her car. Surveillance cameras had also captured him driving Kristin's car to an ATM, where he tried to use her debit card to withdraw money from her account.

Unfortunately, police still did not know where they could find Kristin's body, but another break in the case came after Kristin's parents offered a $25,000 reward for information on their daughter.
A woman named Gloria Dunn who claimed to be a psychic came forward in February 1993 and told police that she'd had a premonition of where Kristin's body could be found. She led authorities to a deserted part of Trenton, deep in the woods, where they first found a shoe sticking out of a shallow grave before finally locating the hastily-buried body of a deceased woman: Kristin.

As police waited for the autopsy report to come in, they proceeded to question the alleged psychic about how she came to know where Kristin's body could be found. When police pressed her for answers, she suddenly blurted out that she did not shoot Kristin — a strange admission for someone who had no way of knowing that Kristin had been shot, as the autopsy results had not yet come back. Police concluded then that Gloria must have been present during Kristin's murder, and she eventually admitted as much and was arrested for murder. Meanwhile, Kristin’s loved ones were devastated that her case had come to such a tragic conclusion.

The autopsy report revealed that Kristin had been shot twice in the head, and there was dirt found in her lungs, suggesting that she'd been buried alive. "It's soul-crushing. We knew something was wrong, but you never think your friend is dead. You/ hope they're not," Glorioso said. "My best friend was there one minute and she was gone [..] She didn't deserve it. Kristin's loved ones were finally able to lay her to rest and three years later, Harris stood trial for her murder. Dunn testified against him in exchange for a reduced sentence of 30 years, and laid out the series of events for the court.

According to Dunn, Harris had come up with a plan for the two of them to rob a sandwich shop, but they needed a car to do so. When they saw Kristin pull into the parking lot of the health club on that fateful morning, they struck: Harris forced Kristin into the trunk of the car. Harris decided that they needed to kill her because she was making too much noise, and so they drove to a secluded area in the woods, where Harris raped Kristin and then shot her twice in the head. He then dug a shallow grave and threw her inside of it and, because she was still alive, he shot her again in the head.

Harris was convicted and sentenced to death. However, his sentence was changed in 2007 to life without the possibility of parole when New Jersey abolished the death penalty.

- Oxygen True Crime, September 29, 2020 by Shahron Lynn Pruitt
Comments
Leave a comment
The simple act of leaving a comment shows you care.
Kristin Huggins - 1987 Pennsbury High School
Kristin Huggins - 1987 Pennsbury High School
The Senior Class 1987 Pennsbury High School yearbook photo. It reads:
Kristin Huggins Sports Nite, Who's Who, Interact Club, Foreign Lang. Club, Winter Track, National Honor Society, "MIK - IT'S BEEN GREAT SHARING LEADERSHIP OF THE C.C.C. WITH YOU!! NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR YARD! C.K.
Date & Place: at Pennsbury High School - East 705 Hood Blvd, in Fairless Hills, Bucks County, Pennsylvania 19030, United States
Comments
Leave a comment
The simple act of leaving a comment shows you care.
I’m so sorry sweet girl. I know you’re at peace now. Fly High, Angel. ❤️
Reply
God bless u. Mayalkofthe. Good great works deeds things u have done spk 🙏🏿🙏🏿🕊️🕊️🕊️😍💔💔
Reply
Iam glad they gt justice
Comments
Leave a comment
The simple act of leaving a comment shows you care.
🕊️🙏🙏💔💔💔💔
Comments
Leave a comment
The simple act of leaving a comment shows you care.
Kristin rip. God bless. May all. Of the. Good great works deeds things u have done spkrfru u 🙏🏿🕊️💔🙏🕊️
Comments
Leave a comment
The simple act of leaving a comment shows you care.
Loading...one moment please
Did you know?
In 1970, in the year that Kristin G Huggins was born, on April 10th, Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles. (John Lennon had previously told the band that he was leaving but hadn't publicly announced it.) By the end of the year, each Beatle had his own album.
Did you know?
In 1980, at the age of only 10 years old, Kristin was alive when on December 8th, ex-Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in front of his home - the Dakota - in New York City. Chapman was found guilty of murder and still remains in jail.
ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM
Advertisement
Advertisement

Kristin Huggins' Family Tree & Friends

Kristin Huggins' Family Tree

Parent
Parent
Kristin G Huggins Kristin G Huggins
Partner
Child
Partner
Child
Sibling

Kristin's Siblings

John Steven Huggins was born on April 3, 1965. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember John Steven Huggins.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Friendships

Kristin's Friends

Friends of Kristin Friends can be as close as family. Add Kristin's family friends, and her friends from childhood through adulthood.
Advertisement
Advertisement
9 Followers & Sources
Jodie Mosley
About me:I haven't shared any details about myself.
Olga Romero
About me:I haven't shared any details about myself.
Kathy Pinna
I'm a Founder of AncientFaces and support the community answering questions & helping members make connections to the past (thus my official title of Founder & Content and Community Support ). For me, it's been a labor of love for over 20 years. I truly believe with all of my heart that everyone should be remembered for generations to come. I am 2nd generation San Jose and have seen a lot of changes in the area while growing up. We used to be known as the "Valley of Heart's Delight" (because the Valley was covered with orchards and there were many canneries to process the food grown here, which shipped all over the US) - now we have adopted the nickname "Capital of Silicon Valley" and Apple, Ebay, Adobe, Netflix, Facebook, and many more tech companies are within a few miles of my current home in San Jose (including AncientFaces). From a small town of 25,000, we have grown to 1 million plus. And when you add in all of the communities surrounding us (for instance, Saratoga, where I attended high school, living a block from our previous Mayor), we are truly one of the big cities in the US. I am so very proud of my hometown. For more information see Kathy - Founder & Content and Community Director
My family began AncientFaces because we believe that unique photos and stories that show who people are/were should be shared with the world.
Daniel Pinna
I want to build a place where my son can meet his great-grandparents. My grandmother Marian Joyce (Benning) Kroetch always wanted to meet her great-grandchildren, but she died just a handful of years before my son's birth. So while she didn't have the opportunity to meet him, at least he will be able to know her. For more information about what we're building see About AncientFaces. For information on the folks who build and support the community see Daniel - Founder & Creator.
My father's side is full blood Sicilian and my mother's side is a combination of Welsh, Scottish, German and a few other European cultures. One of my more colorful (ahem black sheep) family members came over on the Mayflower. He was among the first to be hanged in the New World for a criminal offense he made while onboard the ship.
Jennifer Spadaro
About me:I haven't shared any details about myself.
Savannah Gillis
About me:I haven't shared any details about myself.
Source(s): Social Security Death Index
ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM
Advertisement
Advertisement
Show more
Back to Top