She survived the Great Depression only to vanish in 1978 and remain an unidentified Jane Doe until nearly a half-century later, when cold case detectives identified her as a possible victim of the Jersey Shore's infamous "Thrill Killer."
asserted
detectives → survive → Killer
Sofia Margherita Marrone had been known for years only as "Montauk Mary" due to where she had been found by a U.S. Airman on his lunch break in a park near the eastern end of Montauk in the town of East Hampton, New York.
asserted
she → know → Hampton
On March 22, 1978, the Airman saw Marrone's body near the Camp Hero radar tower that decades later would inspire Netflix's "Stranger Things."
asserted
that → see → Things
On Thursday, investigators in Suffolk County identified her as the victim of a shooting 250 miles away from where she had last been seen.
asserted
she → identify → shooting
They said she had been shot and killed just hours before being found.
asserted
she → say → ?
Marrone, of Pleasantville, New Jersey, was last seen leaving a hospital in Somers Point, New Jersey, on March 16, 1978.
asserted
Marrone → see → March
She was killed six days later at East Overlook Park in Montauk.
asserted
She → kill → Montauk
The autopsy found three bullet wounds in her legs and one to her chest.
asserted
autopsy → find → chest
Her identity remained unknown until Suffolk County investigators said they uncovered it with new DNA methods.
asserted
they → remain → methods
They said she may have been a victim of Richard Biegenwald, also known as the Jersey Shore "Thrill Killer."
uncertain
she → say → Killer
Biegenwald died in prison in 2008, serving life sentences for killing six people between 1958 and 1982, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Thursday.
asserted
Tierney → die → 1958
He had been suspected in three other murders as well.
asserted
He → suspect → murders
Marrone had been killed with the same rare .22-caliber short rounds Biegenwald was using when New Jersey police arrested him in 1983, Tierney told reporters.
asserted
Tierney → kill → reporters
He had been known to pick up victims he encountered walking in towns along the Jersey Shore.
asserted
he → know → Shore
A contemporary witness had also reported seeing a man with a beard sitting in a gold-colored car with New Jersey plates near the Montauk park where Marrone's remains were found, Tierney said, adding that Biegenwald was known to have a beard and had multiple vehicles, including one that roughly matched the witness' description.
asserted
that → report → description
Still, authorities stopped short of calling the case solved.
asserted
authorities → stop → case
Marrone is among six victims recently identified by a cold case task force that retired NYPD cold case sergeant Joseph Giacalone said could become a model for law enforcement around the country.
uncertain
Giacalone → identify → country
"The district attorney has laid out a plan nationally that others should follow," he told Fox News Digital Friday.
asserted
he → lay → Digital
"Between establishing the cold case squad within the DA’s office, bringing in the federal and state partners, spending the money on cases that can be solved, and never giving up."
asserted
that → establish → cases
Three of the six recently identified Does are believed to have been homicide victims, according to Tierney's office.
uncertain
Three → identify → office
One is believed to have drowned accidentally, and the cause of the final death remains under investigation.
asserted
cause → believe → investigation
Authorities identified Marrone along with five other cold case victims Thursday.
asserted
Authorities → identify → victims
The others were:
- Antionette Rugg, previously known as the Hecksher Jane Doe — A dog walker discovered her skeletal remains buried in the sand at Heckscher State Park on April 2, 1978.
asserted
walker → know → April
She was found with a belt tightly cinched around her throat, prosecutors said.
asserted
prosecutors → find → throat
She was 26 years old and had a 10-year-old son.
asserted
She → have → son
- Ramon Perez y Rivera, previously known as Raymond Doe — A group of rabbit hunters found his remains in Deer Park on Nov. 27, 1976.
asserted
group → know → Nov.
He had been severely burned and had a gunshot wound in his abdomen.
asserted
He → burn → abdomen
- Kyong-Ok Kim, previously known as the Riverhead Jane Doe — A street sweeper found her body off Osborne Avenue in Riverhead on March 12, 1990.
asserted
sweeper → know → March
The cause of her death remains under investigation.
asserted
cause → remain → investigation
She was originally from South Korea but immigrated to the U.S. and lived in Woodside, Queens.
asserted
She → immigrate → Woodside
She had a 12-year-old son and was 32 years old at the time of her death.
asserted
She → have → death
The U.S. Coast Guard found an unidentified body in the water 9 miles south of Fire Island on Nov. 4, 1990.
asserted
Guard → find → Nov.
Steward, 28, is believed to have drowned.
asserted
Steward → believe → ?
- Andreas Kupke, John Doe — The 27-year-old German national had traveled to the U.S. for a 10-day vacation in the fall of 1999.
asserted
national → travel → 1999
He never made his return flight.
asserted
He → make → flight
On Christmas Eve of that year, police found his partially decomposed remains alongside a high tide marker in Montauk.
asserted
police → find → Montauk
Kupke's cause of death remains unclear.
uncertain
cause → remain → death
"Every person deserves to be known by their name, and every victim deserves answers and justice," Tierney said in a statement.
asserted
Tierney → deserve → statement
"Five decades have passed since the first of these individuals was found deceased, but our commitment to identifying them and pursuing justice has never wavered."
asserted
commitment → pass → justice
The Aporia
