Shivangi Sinha
In August 2007, Daniel Burroughs disappeared in Mays Landing, New Jersey, which prompted an outpouring of concern and support for his then-wife, Loretta Doyle Burroughs. The couple had married a few years earlier to build a life together. The investigation continued until May 2013, when police executed a search warrant at Loretta’s home for an unrelated matter and discovered human remains later identified as Daniel’s. ID’s ‘Deadly Women: Fatal Instincts’ episode titled ‘Greed’ details the case against her and explores the horrific nature of the crime.
Loretta Doyle Burroughs Moved Cities With Her Husband’s Hidden Remains
Loretta Tokash grew up on Lafayette Avenue in Collingdale, New Jersey, and attended Archbishop Prendergast High School, where she first met Daniel Burroughs. The two became school sweethearts, but life eventually led them down separate paths. Daniel married someone else, and Loretta married twice. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that they reconnected. By then, Daniel had recently divorced, and Loretta’s second husband, Joseph Doyle, had passed away a few years earlier, which made their reunion feel like a meaningful second chance.
In 1999, Loretta and Daniel married each other. Daniel’s daughter from a previous relationship, Carolyn Burroughs, was excited and planned to visit the newlyweds at their home in Mays Landing, New Jersey. Daniel was last seen at his house by a neighbor on August 2, 2007. A few days later, when his daughter and other family members called, Loretta answered and claimed he had left her to go to Florida with a younger woman. The family found this story unlikely, and after some back-and-forth, they filed a missing person report for him in September 2007. Between 2007 and 2013, Loretta moved several times, living briefly in Ventnor before planning to relocate to Villas, New Jersey.
Despite continuing to claim that Daniel had simply walked away, his family increased pressure on the police. In 2013, when she attempted to sell their longtime marital home, the family objected, prompting the reopening of Daniel’s missing person case. Police executed a search warrant at her Ventnor residence and discovered human remains in small plastic containers in her closet, along with a decomposed skull she had kept in her purse. The remains were sent for identification and confirmed to be Daniel’s. Her arrest also prompted an investigation into her second husband’s death, but no charges were filed in this case.
Loretta Doyle Burroughs is Being Held in a New Jersey Prison Today
In May 2013, Loretta Tokash Doyle Burroughs was arrested on charges of murder, hindering apprehension, and weapons offenses. She initially alleged that Daniel had been abusive and that she acted in self-defense. She later changed her allegations to say a disagreement had led to an accidental stabbing. Her trial began in March 2015, and she was convicted of first-degree murder and third-degree hindering apprehension, with the court noting the crime was intentional and brutal, as she had kept and moved Daniel’s remains. In April 2015, she was sentenced to 55 years without parole and is currently incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Union Township, New Jersey. Her release date is 2060, and at 75 years old, she is expected to spend the remainder of her life in prison.
