Welcome back, guys.
This story is up a little later than I would typically post, and I apologize for that. I feel like since this pandemic hit, it has been harder for me to want to get work done. I have been putting my mental health first during this time, and sometimes that means I go hunting for Morsels than finish working on a story. I didn't have any luck, by the way, but I did find some weird stuff.
Remember that while all of this is going on, it's essential to find things that bring you happiness. Personally, I have found being in nature, and embracing my creative side has helped me to get through these stressful weeks. Just a few things that I wanted to note now, let's get into the story.
Disclaimer for this one, it's a hard one, so if you are sensitive to topics along with sexual assault, you might want to skip this one. With that being said today, I am covering the gruesome Alphabet Murders, also known as the Double Initial Murders.
(Colon, Walkowicz, Maenza) (Source: Wiki)
The Alphabet murders that we are talking about are the ones in Rochester, New York, from 1971-1973, and are technically unsolved. All of the victims were young girls, ages 10-11, and were sexually assaulted before their bodies were dumped. The first victim was Carmen Colon, a 10-year-old Puerto Rican girl. She disappeared around 4:20 pm on November 16, 1971, and reported missing at 7:50 pm. Colon was running an errand in Rochester for her grandmother, picking up a prescription on West Main Street. Apparently, that's just how the 70s were- 10-year-olds picking up grandma's pills in New York.
Let's be proud of ourselves that we have seen the errors of our ways, and children aren't just roaming the streets. Unfortunately, the prescription wasn't ready when Colon arrived and was seen getting into a car at 4:30p pm. Fifteen minutes later, Colon was seen fleeing the car along Interstate 490, naked from the waist down. She attempted to wave down passing cars, screaming at the top of her lungs while her abductor threw the Ford Pinto in reverse. Colon's abductor got her, and no one tried to help her. Her body was found by a couple of teenage boys two days later along Interstate 490, only 12 miles from the pharmacy, and still naked from the waist down. In the autopsy, they determined she had been raped, had a fractured skull, had a broken vertebra, and her body was covered in scratches. The cause of death was identified as strangulation. A little over a year and a half later, Wanda Walkowicz went missing around 5 pm on April 2, 1973. Like Colon, Walkowicz was picking up groceries for her mother on Conkey Avenue. Several people reported Walkowicz struggling to carry the bags home and noted her stopping several times to take breaks. Being an outcast, something all the victims had in common, no one offered to help her. The last person to see Walkowicz alive was a woman who recalled seeing a man forcing Walkowicz into a light-colored Dodge Dart around 5:30-6 pm on Conkey Avenue. Reported missing at 8 pm by her mother, Walkowicz's body would be discovered in Webster, New York, only seven miles from where she was abducted. She was fully dressed and looked like she had been thrown from a moving vehicle after death. She had been raped and strangled, police think by a seatbelt, and reclothed after death. They were able to retrieve semen and pubic hair from Walkowicz, as well as white cat hair found on her clothes. The last victim of Rochester, New York alphabet murders, was Michelle Maenza.
Only seven months after Walkowicz's body was discovered, on November 26, 1973, 11-year-old Maenza didn't return home after school. After school, Maenza was seen entering a shopping plaza. Her mother forgot her purse there the day before, and Maenza was to fetch it. At 5:30 pm, Maenza was seen in a speeding car along Ackerman Street. The same vehicle was then seen along Route 350 with a flat tire. This time someone stopped when they saw a suspicious-looking man holding a frightened and fighting young girl. The motorist that stopped to help caused the caucasian man to freak out more. The man pushed Maenza behind him and freaked the motorist out until he left. The motorist noted the license plate, but nothing else happened. Maenza's body was found face down in a ditch, fifteen miles from where she was taken at 10:30 am. The autopsy showed blunt force trauma, rape, and strangulation. The same white cat hair was found on her coat. Maenza had leaves in her hands, which means she was killed close to where she was dumped. Investigators were able to find semen on the body, along with a partial palm print on her neck. They also found a burger in her stomach, consumed only an hour and a half before she was killed. She had been seen with a white male with dark hair, age 25-35, 6 foot tall, 165 lbs, at a fast food place in Penfield at 4:30 pm.
(Drawing of Suspect) (Source Wiki) Unfortunately, this is the best description anyone ever got of this guy. Walkowicz and Maenza had food in their stomachs before death, which suggests that their kidnapper may have brided them. Investigators think Walkowicz and Maenza's murders are connected, but they aren't 100% sure about Colon. Like I said that the beginning, this case is technically unsolved. Authorities do have a few suspects but nothing official who is unsettling, especially for those families affected by this guy. A few other similarities to note about the three girls, they were all from catholic families, outcasts, and were from low-income families. The first suspect is Miguel Colon, Carmen's uncle. If Colon's case isn't connected to the other murders, there is a chance that this guy killed Carmen. Apparently, Carmen had an exciting childhood. She was an outcast, and her mother and her uncle were hooking up, and let's just say Carmen's dad didn't like that too much.
(Source: Wiki) Okay, so why do they think it could be Miguel? Well, he purchased a car matching the description of the abductor's car, he didn't have an alibi for that night, and the drama with Carmen's mom. Authorities investigated Miguel's car and found visible evidence that Carmen had been there. Carmen's mother stated that they would frequently carpool with Miguel. Oddly enough, Miguel moved to Puerto Rico only four days after all of this happened. In 1991 Miguel committed suicide after shooting and injuring his wife and brother. The second suspect was Dennis Termini, the "Garage Rapist" who raped 14 teenage girls from 1971-173. Termini's car also matched, and white cat hair was found on the upholstery. On January 1, 1974, Termini attempted to kidnap a girl, but she kept screaming, which attracted police attention. During Termini's getaway, he shot himself. I was unable to find out what happened to the girl. DNA tests were conducted and didn't watch the semen found on Walkowicz's body. The DNA wasn't tested with the other's bodies, and I am unsure why. Was the sperm confirmed to be the same, or were the samples taken from Colon and Maenza compromised? The next suspect was Kenneth Bianchi, the local ice cream venter. I'm sorry, but the ice cream guy is always a suspect, and most of them are pretty creepy- I say reflecting on the one time I got ice cream from an ice cream truck at like eight. Anyway, Bianchi's cousin was the Hillside Strangler and soon after Maenza's body was found, Bianchi moved in with that cousin. Weird. Bianchi also drove a car matching the abductor's car. Apparently, this is just a rapist, serial killer type of car, and unfortunately, my dream car. I love that little hatchback car look, but now every time I see one, I'm going to think of this horrible story. Thanks serial killers! It's like Voltzwagon Bugs, it just sits weird knowing that Ted Bundy drove one. The last suspect was Joseph Naso, a real bad guy who was arrested in 2011 at the age of 72 for a series of rapes and murders in California from 1972-1994. All of Naso's victims were sex workers, and their first and last names have the same letter. Naso also lived in Rochester, New York, in the early 70s before moving to California. Unfortunately, Naso's DNA did not match the DNA found on Walkowicz's body, but people still think he could be responsible for the deaths of Colon, Walkowicz, and Maenza.
What do you think?
(Naso) (Source: The Guardian) I think it might have been Naso, but then again, the DNA didn't match. If it was him, why did he go from a pedophile to murdering sex workers? Did this attract less attention? Is that why he started with girls from low-income families?
(Naso) (Source: Marin, The Gaudian) The scariest thing is that no one knows. I might end up doing a part two on this story and expand more on Naso and his killings in California- but I haven't decided yet. I am finding true crime stories to be a little harder for me to do since they are so dark. Anyway, I hope you found this story interesting? As always, don't forget to subscribe and tell your friends. -Tye
(Let's end on a happy note, here's a picture of Juno right before she fell asleep.)
Always Cite Those Sources:
“Alphabet Murders.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_murders.
Bradley, Adam. “The Case Of The Alphabet Murders And The Double Initial Killer.” Unsolved Casebook, 21 June 2019, www.unsolvedcasebook.com/the-alphabet-murders/.
McGreal, Chris. “Has the Alphabet Murderer Finally Been Caught?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 May 2012, www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/26/alphabet-murderer.
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