COATESVILLE — Preston Frazier isn’t forgotten.
Pennsylvania State Police announced Tuesday that law enforcement is offering a $5,000 reward for information that solves Frazier’s murder.
In Chester County, this cold case stems back nearly 50 years.
In April 1997, 26-year-old Frazier was found murdered at an abandoned farm on Old Savage Road in West Caln. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, police said. Investigators estimated he was shot between April 7-10, 1977.
Frazier was a 1969 graduate of Coatesville Area Senior High School.
Frazier lived in Coatesville. He was last seen alive around Lincoln Highway and 3rd Avenue in the city on April 7, 1977.
Preston Frazier. (COURTESY OF PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE)
Prior to that, he had been at the former Coach and Four Inn in the city, according to police. Coach and Four Inn was a multi-story hotel and restaurant along the north side of Lincoln Highway between 3rd and 4th avenues. The Coach and Four Inn landmark has since been demolished.
Trooper James Grothey, public information officer, said the Pennsylvania State Police Troop J’s Embreeville Station Criminal Investigation Unit is investigating Frazier’s homicide.
This isn’t the only unsolved case involving Chester County residents connected to the City of Coatesville.
West Whiteland resident Armere Da’Jour Naylor, 27, was murdered on March 8, 2024. He was shot to death in the east end of the 700 block of Diamond St. in the City of Coatesville, where he was born and raised. Just like the Frazier case, Naylor’s murder remains an active investigation. Authorities have yet to identify a suspect or make an arrest.
Anyone with information about Preston Frazier’s unsolved 1977 murder is urged to dial 610-486- 6280 and speak with Trooper Christopher Johnson of the Criminal Investigation Unit for Pennsylvania State Police Troop J’s Embreeville Station in West Bradford. The $5,000 reward for information that solves this case is available through PSP Tips; call the hotline at 1-800-472-8477 or submit a tip online.
To share a tip to help solve the 2024 murder of Armere Da’Jour Naylor, call Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866 or Coatesville City Police Department at 610-384-2300. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers.