A Minnesota college student planning a career in forensic psychology found the perfect case to study right here in Schoharie County.
It's the same case police have been studying for nearly four decades: the unsolved murder of Kathy Kolodziej.
Kelsea Schneider is a senior at the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She learned of Kolodziej case while researching murder cases online.
And while most college students close the books on a course when it's over, Ms. Schneider is still looking into the Kolodziej case even though she finished her major project on the case in December.
"All last semester while I was working on this project, I kept thinking about this is REAL," Ms. Schneider said. "This isn't some hypothetical, theoretical paper, or some psychological experiment to see how people will react to something.
"This was a real girl who was murdered almost 40 years ago, and police haven't solved it."
Stymied for decades, police are still working on the case. Ms. Kolodziej was a SUNY Cobleskill student who was socializing in a downtown bar in November, 1974. She left to walk back to campus, and her friends never saw her again.
Ms. Kolodziej's semi-nude body was found three weeks later near MacDonald Road in Richmondville she had been stabbed numerous times with two different weapons.
A massive investigation over months and years turned up leads, but police couldn't find the killer. They've re-publicized the case several times, and recently issued a poster from Crime Stoppers offering a $2,500 reward.
Ms. Schneider chose the case partly because it's unsolved but also because "it hits close to home, with me being a female college student."
Her course, under Professor Aubrey Immelman, is about profiling, or developing a psychological picture of someone--in this instance, the murderer.
Ms. Schneider studied voluminous 1974 news stories and others published later and also contacted the Times-Journal for suggestions about whom to talk to.
There were more than several, including mostly now-retired police officers who worked the case and also residents intrigued--as many are--by the peculiar nature of the Kolodziej case.
And what did Ms. Schneider find?
•From the way Ms. Kolodziej's body was laid out in a sleeping position, "it looked like the person had some sort of relation to her, some sort of feeling for her," Ms. Schneider said.
•Also, she added, Ms. Kolodziej apparently wasn't struck with a blunt instrument first and taken to where she was stabbed. She might have gone willingly, so she may have known the person.
•Along those lines, Ms. Kolodziej was in a car and apparently didn't try to get away, so "it seems she trusted the person," Ms. Schneider said.
•Finally, Ms. Kolodziej was stabbed multiple times, indicating possible anger. "Anger means the person may have had a connection to her," Ms. Schneider said.
Although her course ended two months ago, Ms. Schneider will continue her phone interviews. She plans to talk to State Police Investigator Tom Cioffi, the current lead investigator, and Schoharie County Sheriff Tony Desmond, the last active law-enforcement officer who worked the Kolodziej case in 1974.
Ms. Schneider will re-write her paper, and eventually it will be posted on a website managed by Professor Immelman.
Beyond that, Ms. Schneider wants to help, even though she's 1,200 miles away.
"I'm only 21 and in Minnesota, so what can I do?" Ms. Schneider asked. "Ideally, I love to be helpful, but it's a longshot."
Anyone with information for Ms. Schneider can reach her at 612-868-0498.