In Her Eyes

What is it about cold cases that so spark our interest? True crime has become a staple of television, books and podcasts, and when a department acknowledges a case that remains open on its books — as the Suffolk County district attorney’s office did last week with the “Montauk Mary” murder investigation — it becomes a hot topic. The colder it is, the hotter the interest.

This case is a perfect example of just how baffling a stalled investigation can be. The body of a woman was found on March 22, 1978, at the head of a State Parks Department overlook trail just east of Montauk, not far from busy Montauk Highway. The woman, believed to be in her 60s, had been shot four times, and had only been dead for a matter of hours when her body was found.

Two things make the case indelibly heartbreaking. The first is the details: She was a short, stout woman, and she was dressed in a plaid tweed coat, a house dress and orange slippers. It’s hard not to hear that outfit and think of a grandmother who had just awakened and was making coffee when something unthinkable happened to her.

Then there is the police sketch released last week: Her hazel eyes stare directly at the viewer from beneath a crown of silvery gray hair, a neutral expression, just a glimpse of her teeth as her face shows, perhaps, the beginning of a sly smile. Now in full color, and likely aided by more modern ways of examining an unidentified body, she is forever the age she was at death 47 years ago. She looks like she would be someone it would be nice to know.

As with so many unsolved crimes, the questions remain: How could this woman disappear without anyone noticing? Does that suggest that she was brought to Montauk from somewhere distant? Or did she simply live in the margins among us, to the point where her suddenly vanishing didn’t set off alarm bells?

If there is any comfort, it’s that a murder of this type, in 1978, very likely wouldn’t be a cold case had it happened today. There are so many more investigative techniques, DNA evidence, ballistics, cellphone data. Certainly, cases still go unsolved — there could be cases today that will be cold cases in 2072. But this feels like a relic of a crime, in some sense: a murder from a less digital time.

Looking out at us from a police sketch, Montauk Mary (such a glib name for such a tragic figure) implores us to remember her, to tell her story again, to use modern tools like social media to reach a wider audience. Looking into her eyes, we see a mystery. We see a challenge. We see a plea for justice.