New York State Cold Cases

Shirley Philips, 38
1966 January 3 Peconic Terrace, Calverton, Suffolk County, NY.

Found about 28 feet off a tarred road in a wooded area in Manorville, off Peconic Terrace, Claverton, between High View Road and Parkway Street just east of Brookhaven National Laboratories, strangled and clad in a purple lace-trimmed evening gown with one of her nylon stocking knotted around her neck. No coat or shoes found near the body but a gold watch was still on her wrist. No signs of sexual assault. ME estimated time of death circa two days earlier.

A mother of one seven-year-old son, with her husband serving in Vietnam, Phillips was staying at the Hilltop House Motel at 210 Osborne Avenue in Riverhead and attended a New Year's Party at Ragula's Hotel in Riverhead.

Carl Orlowski, an acquaintance of several years who was seen arguing with her at a New Year's Eve party at Ragula's Hotel in Riverhead where he resided upstairs, will admit to the murder under questionable circumstances and a Grand Jury will refuse to return an indictment after in an unusual procedure Orlowski and witnesses to his defence volunteered to testify before the Grand Jury.

Massapequa Girl Rape, 17
1966 November 4 Clark Avenue, Massapequa, Nassau County NY.

Victim who was alone in the house watching TV was raped by an intruder breaking in through the back door at 9:10 PM wearing a black ski mask. The victim had her clothes ripped off and was thrown to the floor and "dazed" before being raped. The same perpetrator is suspected in raping on October 25 a 22-year old woman in Massapequa.

Marilyn Simons, 40
1966 April 24 Farmingville, Suffolk County, NY.

The widow and mother of two adult children was found slain in her own car parked on a deserted road near the Bald Hills Ski Bowl in Farmingville, on Sunday morning April 24, 1966 at 7:00 am by a hunter, approximately 1.5 miles south of her home where she lived alone at 76 South Bicycle Path, Selden, NY 11784.

SIMONS was found laying face up across front seat of her 1966 Ford Galaxy, partially disrobed below the waist, strangled with her garter belt and gagged with her underwearand stabbed nine-times in the chest. Four of the wounds, penetrated her heart. Her dry cleaning and a crib purchased the day before circa 3:30 pm for her pregnant daughter’s baby shower were found in the back seat. The victim’s purse was not in the car with her, and news media did not indicate whether it was located in her home.

The Medical Examiner concluded that no forcible penetrative rape had occurred. Newspaper reports do not state the formal cause of death but describe her as having been “strangled and stabbed nine times.”

The day before, Saturday April 27, SIMONS visited her pregnant 17-year-old daughter GRECO who resided near the victim’s home in Selden, then picked up her drycleaning in Selden and afterwards drove to Patchogue, where she purchased the crib. She arrived home, and apparently was home until approximately 4:00 PM. She was not heard from or seen afterwards until her body was found the next morning.

According to a police statement to the press, SIMONS, on Saturday afternoon April 23, between “3:45 and 4:45” pm after purchasing the crib, drove east on Oak Street, Patchogue, to Route 112 and north until she reached Old Medford Avenue which leads north directly to Bicycle Path and her home in Selden.

ME estimated the time of death approximately in the evening of April 23.

Diane Cusick, 23 CASE CLOSED DEC 2022
1968 Feb 17 Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream, Nassau County, NY

Found behind the Steak Pub in Green Acres Mall in her own vehicle.

Believed to be murdered between 10:00 pm and 12:00 am death by suffocation two-inch-wide adhesive tape wrapped around her mouth and neck - face battered - bruises on both eyes, lips and bridge of her nose. Wearing black leotards (torn), miniskirt, red blouse, a tan car coat and white boots. Marks on wrists indicating she was restrained. Purse still in car - jewellery she was wearing untouched - sexually assaulted.

Thursday - night murder

Found in in vicinity of Queens-Nassau County border in Nassau off the L.I. Sunrise Highway

Serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the murder in 2022 on a perpetrator DNA positive match.

Two Unidentified White Females, 20. Double Abduction-Rape
1968 Feb 21 93-39 215th St, Queens Village, Queens, NY

Two 20-year females abducted, a student nurse and a secretary. Assailant forced his way with a knife into their car parked on on 215th Street when they were returning near midnight from a nearby bar. (Community Gardens?) He was wearing a brown and yellow ski mask, gloves and leather jacket. Threatened them with a knife. Bound them with baling wire and took control of their car. One of the victims stabbed him in the thigh with his own knife. Sexually assaulted one of the victims and kept both victims for about three hours before fleeing the car with the car keys. Fourth sex assault in the area since October.

Victims attacked in the Springfield-Jamaica axis corridor in Queens Village, NY.

Beverly Harris, 13
1969 March 28 Disappeared from 216-18 113th Dr, Jamaica, Cambria Heights, Queens NY 11429

African-American girl, disappeared from near home on Friday. Burnt body found Saturday, April 29 in Rosedale swamp near JFK Airport, Queens, NY. No further coverage in news media. Cause of death: unreported.

Victim resided in the Springfield-Jamaica axis corridor. Found in in vicinity of Queens-Nassau County border in Queens near L.I. Sunrise Highway

Cynthia Dawn Constantine, 15 MISSING
1969 July 11 15 1400 Montauk Hwy, Oakdale, Suffolk County, NY.

Missing Since 07/11/1969 Oakdale, New York

White Female 15 years old DOB: 04/14/1954 Height and Weight 5'3, 117 pounds

Clothing/Jewellery Description: A white blouse, black Bermuda shorts, orange sneakers and possibly a yellow metal chain with a cross pendant. Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Cynthia has a mole on her throat and a discolored front tooth. She wears eyeglasses. She has previously fractured her lower right arm.

Cynthia was last seen in Oakdale, New York on July 11, 1969. She went to take the dog for a walk along the railroad tracks of the Montauk branch train of the Long Island Railroad. The dog returned home without her just a few minutes later, with its collar and leash still on. Earlier on the day of her disappearance, Cynthia and her brother had gone into the woods and seen a muskrat den, and she said she wanted to go back and find the muskrat. Three young boys said they'd seen Cynthia going into the woods with her dog, and when her brother lead authorities to the muskrat hole, they found tracks consistent with Cynthia and the dog. The tracks were wiped out by rain before they could be closely examined or preserved, however. Cynthia has never been heard from again. She didn't take any belongings with her, and at the time of her disappearance her rabbit was about to give birth and she was looking forward to seeing the babies. Her family never believed she ran away; they thought she was abducted. The police considered Cynthia's father a possibly suspect in her disappearance. He had a bicycle shop on Montauk Highway in Oakdale, and laid a new cement floor in the basement around the time of Cynthia's disappearance. Several local people were suggested as potential suspects, but no one has been charged or named publicly. It's worth noting that she disappeared near the train station, and could have encountered numerous people there who weren't local to the area. Cynthia's parents are both dead, but her brother is still alive. Her case remains unsolved.

Margaret Mary Warburton, 20
1969 September 18 Found in Stamford, Connecticut Penn Station

Missing from 63-09 71st Street, Middle Village, Queens, New York, NY

Cause of death: unknown victim dismembered and decapitated

Forensic characteristics: Canadian female visiting from Pierrefonds, (Montreal) Quebec with relatives in 63-09 71st Street, Middle Village, Queens (Uncle John Flynn). Last seen leaving house to go shopping in Manhattan September 18. Torso found in Stamford, Connecticut Penn Station train station locker in a suitcase wrapped in plastic, September 23 and arms and legs in trash wrapped in plastic in men's washroom the next day. Victim's head never recovered but bruising on throat indicated death by strangulation. ME concluded that the victim was strangled from what remained of the neck area and was murdered within 24-hours of September 18.

Victim was visiting in the Springfield-Jamaica axis corridor.

Cheryl McCarthy, 18,
1969 Dec 23 BMT El-train subway station 132nd Street and Jamaica Avenue, Queens, NY

Cause of death: ligature strangulation

Coming from 131-11 Kew Gardens Road, Queens. Found in closed part of BMT El-train subway station at 132nd Street and Jamaica Avenue, closed after 7:30 PM, face down dressed in a green coat, plaid beige-brown pants partly pulled down and wearing one brown shoe, the other nearby. She was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Beaten on the face, attempted rape, ligature strangulation. Victim had red hair. Victim was to meet a female friend at the station at 8:00 PM.

Victim resided and murdered in the Springfield-Jamaica axis corridor.

Lorraine Montalvo McGraw, 26, CASE CLOSED MAY 2022
1970 March 1 Tweed Boulevard ("west of Tweed Blvd"), S. Nyack, Rockland County, NY

The mother of two, a resident of Queensbridge Houses, Long Island City, Queens, NY. Strangled and severely struck right side of the head, near abandoned Nyack water tower lover's lane behind Nyack Missionary College. McGraw worked in various clubs, bars and adult establishments along Route 9W in Rockland Lake and Congers and was also was sex worker in the Queensboro Bridge Plaza area and across the bridge on First Avenue in Manhattan.

Serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed in May 2022.

Denise Sheehy, 16 MISSING
1970 July 7 48-15 46th St, Woodside, Queens, New York, NY 11377

Mother smelt what she believed to be alcohol on Denise’s breath and the pair got into an argument, with a threat being made that their father would be informed. The result of this was Denise storming out of the apartment at around 5:00pm, without any of her personal belongings. The last reported sighting of her came from a neighbour coming into the building, who saw her climb over a fence behind the apartment and leave the complex via a nearby Mets building.

Mother smelt what she believed to be alcohol on Denise’s breath and the pair got into an argument, with a threat being made that their father would be informed. The result of this was Denise storming out of the apartment at around 5:00 pm, without any of her personal belongings. The last reported sighting of her came from a neighbour coming into the building, who saw her climb over a fence behind the apartment and leave the complex via a nearby Mets building.

Denise Sheehy went missing from the 4800 block of 46th Street in the Woodside neighbourhood of Queens, New York on July 7, 1970. She was sixteen years old and was last seen wearing size XS blue shorts; a red and white top; size 5 1/2 white clog sandals; a gold boys’ school ring; and a gold ring with her initials “DS” on it. At the time of her disappearance, she was 5’3″ and weighed approximately 103 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes, and her ears are pierced. She had received dental care throughout her life and her teeth show signs of restoration.

Mary Beth Heinz, 21 CASE CLOSED DEC 5 2022
1972 May 10 Rockville Centre New York, Nassau County, NY

Found in stream between Peninsula Blvd and Maine Avenue in Rockville Center

In 1972, Mary Beth was working as a live-in nanny. She would live with the family during the week and spend the weekend at her family’s home.
Did not return home Friday May 5, 1972. Found May 10.

ligature strangulation - bruises on face
wearing a hot pants white and blue jumper suit
shoes and stockings missing - purse missing
sexual assault undetermined
known to frequent restaurants and bars in vicinity of Hempstead bus depot.

Serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the murder 2022.

Florence Lemler, 55
1972 May 16 Pond Road, Bohemia, Suffolk County, NY.

Last seen May 16, 5:00 PM at the Syosset Scholl District offices where she was employed as a librarian. Found five and a half hours later in

Her car was found with a flat tire on the west shoulder of Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway south of the Wallace Drive exit in Plainview.

The victim was found in a wooded area on the east side of Pond Road between the Sunrise Highway and Oakwood Avenue in Bohemia fully clothed stabbed four times in the chest. Shoes and purse missing but wearing a $1500 ring. No sexual attack according to police.

Resided at 34 Flower Street, Valley Stream, NY.

Laverne Moye, 23 CASE CLOSED DEC 5 2022
1972 July 20 Rockville Centre. Nassau County, New York

Found in stream between Peninsula Blvd and Maine Avenue in Rockville Center at same location where Mary Beth Heinz, 21 was found 1972-05-10
ligature or manual strangulation - bruises on face and neck - wearing black blouse and high black leather boots nude from waist down - eight pieces of costume jewellery including three silver wire bracelets, a silver watch, a yellow metal ring, a gold ring with a lavender stone, a silver wire-type expansion ring and silver identification-type bracelet - Victim resided at 112-37 Francis Lewis Blvd., St. Albans, Queens, NY.

Victim resided in the Springfield-Jamaica axis corridor.
Serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the murder in 2022.

Jean Clark, 27
1972 September 2 Bayside, Queens County, NY.

Found 3:00 pm on Sept 3. In bushes off southbound lane of Cross Island Parkway in Bayside Queens near Long Island Expy. Slain 12 hours earlier - id from fingerprints - prostitution arrest. Lived at 235 W. 46th Street - tie around throat - stab wound in neck -- died of strangulation.
Possibly abducted from Lexington Avenue and E. 25th Street, New York, NY.

NYPD 16th Division Homicide.

Victim found at the north end of the Springfield Blvd corridor.

Dorothy Anderson, 24
1973 April 6 Rockville Centre. Nassau County, New York

Victim found lying on the bank of a stream with her legs in the water, east of South Park Avenue - African American woman - wearing a heavy tan suede coat with a light fur collar and cuff fringes and purple sweat shirt with "BMCC"

Found a half mile south of the stream between Peninsula Blvd and Maine Avenue in Rockville Center where Mary Beth Heinz, 21 was found on 1972-05-10 and Laverne Moye 1972-07-20. Victim resided at 100-49 196th Street, Hollis, Queens, NY.

Victim resided in the Springfield-Jamaica axis corridor.

April Fells, 19
1973 November 8, 178-27 146th Drive, Springfield Gardens, Queens, NY.

Found in a lot behind 178-27 146th Drive, Springfield Gardens, Queens.
Face down, wearing a red blouse, nude from the waist down, and a pair of blue jeans and flowered underwear nearby. [SHOES?]

Three stab wounds through the back. Scratches on body. Raped.

Resided at 179-17 146th Drive. Was returning home on Tuesday, November 6 from Manhattan by subway after visiting boyfriend. Bus driver recalled dropping her off at the intersection of 146th Drive and New York Blvd (Guy R Brewer Blvd) at 10:50 P.M Tuesday night. ME estimate 48 hours dead prior to being found.

Victim resided in, murdered and found in the Springfield-Jamaica-axis corridor in Queens near the Queens-Nassau County border and L.I. Sunrise Highway

Alicia Rodriguez Nieves murder new york 1973

Alicia Rodriguez Nieves CASE CLOSED DEC 5 2022
1973 Dec 27, Zack's Bay, Jones Beach, Nassau County, NY

Found bound, strangled and stuffed into a plastic bag at Jones Beach in a heavily weeded area near the Zack's Bay bus stop on Ocean Boulevard north of the East Bathhouse. Plastic bag bundled into a blanket with its ends tied together. Victim's wrists bound together with a "light cord" (electric? or thin cord?) behind her knees. Victim strangled. 5 foot 2 inches, dark brown hair, hazel eyes. Wearing a white bra and light blue denim jeans, but no blouse, shoes or stockings. Defensive knife wounds on hands.

Resided at an SRO - Manhattan Tower Hotel on Broadway and 76th Street in Manhattan, NY.

Serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the murder in 2022.

Unidentified Torso White Female, 20-25
1973 Dec 28 Springfield Lane, Queens, NY

White female head and upper torso 20 to 25 years of age, PARTIALLY BURNED, light brown hair in an upsweep tied with a piece of green wool. Wearing green nail polish.

Found in the Springfield-Jamaica-axis corridor in Queens near the Queens-Nassau County border and L.I. Sunrise Highway

Anne Berolzheimer, 23
1974 May 28 488 E. 74th Street, Manhattan, New York

Believed to have arrived in New York at Penn Station at 9:00 pm after visiting parents at 83 Harbor Lane, Massapequa, New York. Found strangled with an electric cord and maybe panty hose, face up on the floor beside her bed, nude from the waist down. News reports claim her hands were tied behind her back. Her blouse and part of her pantyhose found partly wrapped around her neck with pantyhose stuffed in her mouth as well. No sign of forced entry but apartment found in state of disarray. Lived in an apartment vacated six months earlier by a woman who is reported to have had "frequent male visitors."

Travelling on LIRR from Massapequa, Nassau County on night of her murder.

Leslie Zaret, 17,
1974 August 14 PS 203 playground on Springfield Boulevard in Bayside, NY

Her body had been stripped and the cause of death was strangulation. Leslie’s clothing, a blue blouse with a flower print, jeans and beige platform shoes, were in a pile nearby.
According to police, the teen was last seen the evening before, visiting a friend at 148-18 58 Ave. in Flushing. She left around midnight and was walking to her home at 138-54 68 St.
Police say she stopped off briefly at a bar at 59-20 Main St. to find her boyfriend. He was not considered a suspect in the case.

From there it is believed the victim walked south, passing her high school, John Bowne, and met her attacker a few blocks from her home.
Officials think she entered a car knowing the driver. The murder scene was four miles away.
Evidence showed that Zaret was not raped or had sex, but that she had been abused with a hairbrush. Police have partial DNA from the brush.

Victim found at the north end of the Springfield Blvd corridor.

Diane Zagorski death nassau county ny 1974

Diane Zagorski, 24
1974 October 1, Massapequa Avenue, Massapequa Park, Nassau County, NY

Reported found in back seat of her car with no visible signs of violence on Massapequa Avenue. Lived on 100 New York Avenue, in Massapequa.

Lisa Thomas, 15,
1974 October 6 Nanuet Mall, Rockland County, NY

Departed her home on 8 N. Fairview Ave Monday October 6, 1974, 3:30 pm. for the Nanuet Mall located a block away. Tuesday 11:00 am, found in high grass in woods off a ball field 75 yards from the Mall's parking lot. Battered to death, blindfolded by a red print kerchief she carried wrapped around her purse, face down.

Struck once above the bridge of her nose, once behind her left ear fracturing the base of her skull and reaching the wound on her face, and again on top of her head. A white sock covered with luminous/neon orange spray paint filled with rocks was found in the locality but no conclusive evidence that was the murder weapon.

No sexual assault reported. Her clean white shoes were found near her body and dirt had filtered through her red socks to her feet.

Her white sweater was knotted around her throat but she was not strangled. Her black purse was found ripped in half some distance from the body with $15 missing. Her house keys were missing.

Janette Archie, 18
1975 February 9, Springfield Lane, Queens, NY

African American high school girl.

Found in ditch off Springfield Lane near JFK. Wearing canary yellow slacks, a red flowered blouse, a red coat and blue high-platform wedge shoes. Several rings and a necklace. Stabbed once in the chest. Believed to be abducted from near her home in Queens Village 102-38 183d Place from bus-stop at 183rd Street and Jamaica Avenue.

Resided and found in the Springfield-Jamaica-axis corridor in Queens near the Queens-Nassau County border and L.I. Sunrise Highway

Karen Baxter, 15
1975 February 22 Hotel Belmore, Room 202, 61 Lexington Avenue (& E 25th Street), New York, NY.

Street sex worker strangled with her own necklace chain. Found nude face down on bed clad in one stocking. Partly covered by bed sheet.
Hotel desk clerk checked-in for a short 4-hour rental Baxter and a dark-skinned male client at 10:00 pm. At 10:10 pm the male came down and dropped key off at desk. When Baxter failed to come down clerk checked room at 10:20 and found Baxter murdered.

Killed on same "stroll" from which Jean Clark, 27 was taken from on 1972 September 2 (see above)

Reynold Stoddard - no previous criminal record - arrested and charged in March. Charges dropped May 2, 1975.

Ellen Wapnowitz, 20
1975 Sept 27 3536 Hull Avenue, Bronx, NY

Found on rooftop of 3536 Hull Avenue
Resided at 3505 Decatur Avenue - a block away

ligature strangulation - possibly a strap or rope
found fully clothed in blue jeans, a blue-gray knit cardigan sweater and a print shirt with a pictorial scene, a gold loop earring on her right ear and gold ring on her right hand.
shoes missing
no indication of rape or struggle
Friday-Saturday murder

Rosalie Reisberg, 26
1975 October 21 327 W. 87th Street, New York, NY

Strangled and throat cut deeply.
Found at home
Nude on bed from waist down.
No evidence of penetrative rape.

Unidentified Torso
1976 April 16 Sterling Forest Beach, Greenwood Lake, Orange County, NY
SP Monroe Case#76-362

Victim: Unidentified W/F, approx. 25 years, found floating in water, head and hands amputated and bound by electrical cord. Dead for approximately two to three weeks.

Kathy Woods, 13
1976 June 3 Sweethollow Road, West Hills, Huntington, Suffolk County, NY.

Woods failed to return home from Burrs Lane Junior High School to her residence at 8 Redwood Drive. Believed to have been held for two days prior to being murdered. She was last seen at 5:30 PM with friends on the corner of Arbor Lane and Caledonia Road, near her home.

Found approximately 9 feet off Sweethollow Road just south of the Jerico Turnpike, wrapped in a canvas tent, underwear stuffed into her mouth and a deep cut across her throat, bruising on her face and a stab wound through the back. Raped. Shoes missing.

Possibly mutilation of sexual organs, unclear from newspaper reports.

ME declared asphyxiation from the gag as cause of death.

Unidentified torso, white female
1980 March 20 Hudson View Apartments in Fishkill, Dutchess County, NY

On 03/20/80 the headless, handless, nude body of a white female was discovered in a travel trunk near a dumpster at the Hudson View Apartments in Fishkill NY. The trunk had been left at that location between 12 noon and 10:00pm on 03/18/80. The female is in her approx. mid twenties, 5'6", weighing approx. 135 lbs., dark brown hair, foot size approx. 41/2 to 5, bra size 34C

Body discovered inside a travel trunk described as follows: Green with black trim and blue lining. 21"wide, 37"long, and 14"deep with brass fittings. various stickers on the outside indicate the trunk travelled from NYC to France in 1958 and returned to NYC in 1960. Original ownership has been verified as June Leaf.

SP Wappinger Case#80-266

COLD CASES MURDERS 1966-1980 IN NEW YORK STATE