EAST MILLINOCKET – “America’s Most Wanted” might feature the 28-year-old Joyce McLain homicide if it can get video or home movies of the slain teen, her mother said Tuesday.

Pamela McLain and Nancy Deschaine, an organizer of the Justice For Joyce Committee, appealed to Katahdin region residents for any footage from 1977 to mid-1980 that features Joyce. A producer from the Fox Television program contacted McLain earlier this month to discuss doing a segment on the case.

“They are not going to give me anything until I get a video,” McLain said Tuesday. “I really need the video, and they wanted something that showed her as she was older, you know.”

A 16-year-old Schenck High School sophomore, Joyce McLain was killed on or about Aug. 8, 1980. Her body was found two days later in a power line clearing about 200 feet from the school’s soccer fields. Her head and neck had been struck repeatedly with a blunt object. Several suspects have been investigated, but no arrests have been made and the case remains open with state police.

Hosted by John Walsh, “America’s Most Wanted” is a half-hour program dedicated to the capture of wanted felons, the solving of unsolved crimes and the recovery of lost or missing people. It airs at 9 p.m. Saturdays on Fox, is syndicated, and has a Web site, amw.com. The show has helped capture 1,022 suspects, the site states.

Publicists from the show and Fox did not immediately return telephone messages and e-mails seeking comment Tuesday.

The McLain case previously was featured on the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries,” hosted by the late Robert Stack.

Much time has passed, but video featuring the teenager might not be difficult to find, Deschaine said. Someone might have taped her without knowing it. Videotape or 8 mm or 16 mm film of a birthday party, school event, dance or other large-scale happening might not star Joyce, but she might be seen in the background of a crowd shot, perhaps, or for a brief interval, Deschaine said.

Joyce was an outgoing participant in school basketball, soccer, softball and tennis. She acted in several plays and was a cheerleader and band member at Schenck, her mother said.

“She did everything,” McLain said.

Deschaine urged amateur videographers and camera buffs who lived in or visited the Katahdin region from 1977 to 1990 to open their libraries and take a look. If anything interesting is found, they may call Deschaine at 746-3273 after 6 p.m. or e-mail justiceforjoyce@gmail.com. The family will review the footage to help identify McLain. Information on the case and efforts to find McLain’s killer is at justiceforjoyce.com.

Justice for Joyce is a grass-roots effort revitalized earlier this year to spark new interest in the case. Group members have raised more than $15,000 to fund the exhumation of the body so that renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden can see whether any new DNA evidence is available.

Baden had hoped to complete his review of the case by last Friday and decide whether exhumation would be helpful, but as of Tuesday had not contacted the family, McLain said.

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