Between 1971 and 1973, Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz, and Michelle Maenza were abducted, strangled, sexually assaulted, and discarded near busy roads outside Rochester, New York. Their bodies were found in secluded areas along embankments.

Police theorized the victims were targeted because their first and last names shared the same two initial letters. Adding to the mystery, the towns where their bodies were discovered also began with the same two letters: Carmen in Churchville, Wanda in Webster, and Michelle in Macedon.

Beyond their names, the girls shared other tragic commonalities. All three came from struggling families, lived in impoverished areas of Rochester, and relied on social welfare. They either had no father or had lost their father, and they experienced difficulty making friends at school. Each girl disappeared near her home, and the crimes exhibited the same modus operandi.

Ten-year-old Carmen Colon, a Puerto Rican immigrant who spoke limited English, lived with her grandparents in Rochester. She often ran errands for her grandfather. On 16/11/1971, Carmen walked two blocks to a pharmacy to pick up a prescription. While waiting, she left the store and never returned.

About an hour later, Carmen was seen on a highway about 19 km from her neighborhood. Witnesses reported seeing a naked girl waving and running away from a car pulled over on the side of the road. "Can you believe nobody stopped? People told us they were going too fast, they were in a hurry to get home. I wonder how fast is too fast to leave a child crying for help?", Sheriff Andrew Sparacino told the New York Times in 1973.

"I know they felt terrible about not stopping and having the courage to come forward after the fact", investigator Patrick Crough of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office told the Democrat & Chronicle in 2009. He also noted that witnesses didn't have cell phones to quickly call for help.

Two days later, two teenagers riding bicycles discovered Carmen's naked body in a roadside ditch near Churchville, about 56 km from Rochester. They initially thought it was a "broken doll". An autopsy revealed she had been raped and manually strangled.

Police investigate the scene where Carmen Colon's body was found. Photo: *Medium*

Eleven-year-old Wanda Walkowicz often helped her mother with errands, like buying groceries for dinner. Around 5 PM on 2/4/1973, Wanda walked alone to a nearby grocery store. The store owner said she purchased a few items and walked toward Conkey Avenue. About an hour later, a witness saw Wanda near the market, hesitating in front of a stopped car.

The next day at 10:15 AM, a New York state trooper found Wanda's fully clothed body at the bottom of a hill, at a rest stop near a highway, about 24 km from her home. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled with a belt or similar ligature, sexually assaulted, and had been fed before her murder.

Sheriff Sparacino told the New York Times he believed the killer had a car and the girls willingly got in. "The lure to the children may have been an offer of a hamburger and a soda", he speculated.

According to the Real Crime documentary, cat hair was found on Wanda's clothing, although her family didn't own a cat, leading to speculation the perpetrator may have used a pet to lure her.

According to Dr. David Barry, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and director of the mental health clinic of the Monroe County Court, the material and emotional deprivations in the lives of the victims must have made them more vulnerable to the killer's promises of affection. Similarly, the transient, chaotic nature of the neighborhoods where the children lived could have allowed him to move around undetected.

Months after Wanda's disappearance, on 28/11/1973, 11-year-old Michelle Maenza went to the school nurse in tears on the Monday after Thanksgiving. The New York Times reported in December 1973: "Michelle and her sister were taunted by classmates because they didn’t bathe regularly and their clothes were ragged and dirty".

The nurse allowed her to leave school. Michelle was last seen by classmates about 300 m from the school. Police received a report that a girl resembling Michelle was seen in a white man's car parked at a hamburger stand. The witness said the man had "dirty hands", returned to the car with a bag and a cup.

Later, witnesses saw a similar-looking man driving a car with a flat tire, and a girl matching Michelle's description in the backseat. The witness described the man to police, providing the first description of a potential suspect.

Sketch of the man seen with Michelle Maenza. Photo: *Crimeimmemorial*

Two days later, Michelle's fully clothed body was found in an open ditch in the town of Macedon, about 32 km from Rochester. She had been strangled with a ligature. An autopsy revealed she had eaten a burger before her death.

Police theorized the perpetrator drove Michelle to the place of assault, possibly in the car on a rural road or in a house in a secluded location. He allowed her to dress and then killed her.

The killer seemingly tossed the body from the car or dragged it a short distance from the road. He made no attempt to conceal it. Police believe the body had been there at least 36 hours before being reported on 28/11.

Michelle's brother, Steve Maenza, said their uncle saw Michelle on the day she disappeared and offered her a ride, but she refused. "Right after he left is probably when the guy picked her up. My uncle blamed himself for years", Steve said.

For over five decades, authorities have revisited the case numerous times, but it remains unsolved. At one point, police believed Carmen was killed by a different perpetrator than the other two victims due to differences in how she was strangled (manually) and the state of her body when found (nearly naked).

The prime suspect in Carmen's case was her uncle, Miguel Colon, but after a family dispute, he committed suicide by gun in front of police and is now believed not to be the killer. The Colon family maintains Miguel's innocence.

Kenneth Bianchi, the infamous "Hillside Strangler" who terrorized Los Angeles from 1977 to 1979, was also a person of interest. A former ice cream vendor born and raised in Rochester, Bianchi moved to Los Angeles and was convicted of a series of rapes and strangulations, leaving bodies on hillsides throughout Los Angeles. Former FBI criminal profiler Roy Hazelwood said fingerprints found on Michelle's body didn't match Bianchi's, but some still believe he could be the culprit.

Joseph Naso, another "alphabet killer" from Rochester, was convicted in four brutal murders targeting sex workers in Northern California between the 1970s and 1990s. All of his victims' names shared the same initial letter. Notably, one of his victims shared the same name as Carmen Colon. However, DNA evidence didn't link him to the Rochester cases.

In 2009, police exhumed the body of a firefighter suspected of being a serial rapist to compare his DNA with samples from the crime scenes.

Although the case remains unsolved, authorities say they haven't given up. Four law enforcement agencies continue to pursue leads, hoping to bring justice to the victims' families.

Tue Anh (*Oxygen, Nytimes*)