On the 38th anniversary of her death, a newly-hung billboard in Cobleskill reminds motorists that the 1974 murder of Kathy Kolodziej remains unsolved.
Ms. Kolodziej was a 17-year-old SUNY Cobleskill freshman when she disappeared while walking back to campus from a downtown bar the night of November 2, 1974.
Twenty-six days later-Thanksgiving morning-her semi-nude body was found on a stone wall near Cross Hill and MacDonald Roads in Richmondville; she had been stabbed multiple times with two different weapons.
The murder case has never been closed and in February, Crime Stoppers, an organization that works with police, began offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ms. Kolodziej's murder.
Now a billboard just west of the shad Point Park and Ride on Route 7 publicizes the reward in traffic-stopping detail.
"I wanted to do something for the anniversary," said State Police Investigator Tom Cioffi, who has been working on the case since 2009.
"It's a tragedy-for her family and for the community. And it's never too late to get justice for the victim."
The idea for the billboard was Investigator Cioffi's.
RJ Mallery, whose father, Roger Mallery, was district attorney at the time, donated the billboard space; District Attorney Jim Sacket paid for it.
"We continue to hope that with the right leads, we can solve the case," Investigator Cioffi said.
"We're hoping someone will do the right thing and come forward. It doesn't have to seem 'big'-maybe they just remember a suspicious person from that time or another detail. Let us decide whether it's important."
Since 1974, police have interviewed thousands of people and investigated nearly as many leads.
They've also turned to technology.
People can post messages and leave anonymous tips on the Crimestoppers' Facebook page, justice4kathy, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-313-8477 or online at crimestoppers1@optonline.netor "follow" her on Twitter at @justice4kathy.
They can also State Police at 234-9400.
Bob Pavone, a retired downstate police chief who now works with Crimestoppers, said their interest is in collecting information on cold cases and then passing it on, anonymously, to police.
These cases are never closed, he said.
"They're always on our minds. A billboard like this is a very visible way of making that point."
Vicky Szydlowski of West Islip was just a year older than Kathy, her cousin, when she was murdered.
Her death, she said, devastated everyone in the family.
"Kathy was a funny kid," Ms. Szylowski remembered.
"We did a lot of sleepovers. She always had us laughing. Her father was a Polish immigrant and she did the best accents...
"Kathy loved animals. She even talked her parents into letting her get a horse-that's how she ended up at Cobleskill.
"She was just 17. In September, she went away to college. And then two months later she was dead..."
After Ms. Kolodziej was murdered, her parents, who have since died, adopted two young girls from Poland "but the hole was always there," Ms. Szylowski said.
Especially on the anniversaries of her cousin's death, Ms. Szylowski said, she wonders "if this will be the day I get the call that they caught Kathy's killer."
So far she's still waiting-but she appreciates the fact that the investigation remains open.
"As long as people are working on it and stay interested, there's hope they'll find out who did this," she said.
"We're talking about someone who took a human life here. Someone must know something."