Efforts to rekindle interest in the 1974 murder of Kathy Kolodziej are already yielding fresh leads for State Police.
Ms. Kolodziej, a 17-year-old SUNY Cobleskill freshman, disappeared on her way back to campus from a downtown bar on November 2, 1974.
Twenty-six days later, her body, dressed only in a red coat, was found on a stone wall off MacDonald Road in Richmondville.
In the 43 years since then, the murder remains on the public’s radar, said Investigator Dave Ayers, who’s inherited the case; his appeal for information in the July 26 Times-Journal has generated a handful of new leads, he said Monday.
“Believe it or not, we’ve gotten quite a few calls.” Investigator Ayers said. “We’re still sifting through them. Added to the information we already have, there’s quite a bit to follow up on.”
Locals have long been divided over whether Ms. Kolodziej’s murderer was someone passing through—I-88 was under construction at the time—or whether it was someone they knew.
Investigator Ayers said most of the calls he’s received since Wednesday are local, but at least a couple are from people out of the area who follow the T-J online.
Investigator Ayers is in the process of updating the Facebook page Justice 4 Kathy set up by Investigator Tom Cioffi, who’d be in charge of the case previously.
He’s also working on some ways to publicize the investigation with SUNY Cobleskill alumni during the October Alumni Weekend October 13-15.
SUNY Cobleskill supports those efforts and has long worked with State Police to provide access to information, facilities, and documents, said President Marion Terenzio.
“SUNY Cobleskill continues to cooperate with the Katherine Kolodziej investigation being conducted by the New York State Police,” Dr. Terenzio said.
“We are reaching out to our alumni who were on campus in the mid-70s and asking that they contact Investigator Ayers with any information on the case, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be.”
Past efforts to publicize Ms. Kolodziej’s murder have included a billboard put up by State Police along Route 7 in 2012 publicizing a $2,500 Crime Stoppers reward.
That generated new leads—including interviews with someone who’d attended SUNY Cobleskill in 1974 who was living in Pennsylvania in ’12--but no arrests.
Investigators said then that the biggest obstacle to solving the case was that the actual scene of the murder was never located.
Investigator Ayers urged anyone with any information on the case, no matter how insignificant it seems, to call him at 234-9401 or 234-3131.
Also working on the case are Investigator Dan Stevens and Major Crimes Investigator Dave Burns.