Alphabet murders

Between November 1971 and November 1973, three preadolescent girls disappeared while running errands in Rochester, New York, and were later found strangled after being sexually assaulted. Each victim's first and last name began with the same letter, and each body was discarded in or near a town or village whose name began with the same letter — giving rise to the case's name.

Carmen Colón, age 10, disappeared on November 16, 1971, after leaving a pharmacy on West Main Street. Motorists later reported seeing a girl matching her description running from a car on Interstate 490 before being led back to the vehicle. Her body was found two days later near Churchville. An autopsy found she had been raped, suffered a skull and vertebral fracture, and was manually strangled. Wanda Walkowicz, age 11, disappeared on April 2, 1973, while walking home from a delicatessen; her body was found the next day near Webster. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled with a ligature, and white cat fur was found on her clothing despite her family owning no such pet. Michelle Maenza, age 11, disappeared on November 26, 1973, near a shopping plaza; witnesses reported seeing her in a beige or tan vehicle and later saw a man holding a girl by the wrist near a car with a flat tire. Her body was found on November 28 near Macedon; she had been beaten, raped, and strangled, and white cat fur was again found on her clothing.

Investigators interviewed more than 800 potential suspects but never charged anyone. Carmen Colón's uncle, Miguel Colón, was considered a strong suspect due to circumstantial evidence, including a recently purchased car matching witness descriptions and an unexplained thorough cleaning of its trunk; he provided no credible alibi and later fled briefly to Puerto Rico before surrendering to authorities. He died by suicide in 1991 following a domestic violence incident. Dennis Termini, a Rochester firefighter and serial rapist known as the "Garage Rapist," was also investigated; he died by suicide in January 1974 after police pursued him during an attempted abduction. DNA testing in 2007 excluded him as Walkowicz's killer, though no comparable evidence existed for the other two victims. Kenneth Bianchi, later convicted as one of the "Hillside Stranglers," worked in Rochester at the time and was investigated but never charged. Joseph Naso, convicted in 2013 of murdering four women in California whose names also shared initials, was named a person of interest, but DNA testing excluded him as a match to evidence from Walkowicz's case.

The murders remain unsolved. In 1995, Carmen Colón's mother, Guillermina Colón, publicly appealed for information. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle published further appeals in 2009, generating new leads that did not result in an arrest. Police have stated the investigation remains open.