Between 1971 and 1973, three young girls from Rochester, New York — Carmen Colón, 10, Wanda Walkowicz, 11, and Michelle Maenza, 11 — were abducted and murdered. Each victim's first and last names began with the same letter, and each body was found in or near a town sharing that initial: Colón near Churchville, Walkowicz in Webster, Maenza near Macedon — the pattern that gave the case its two names, the Alphabet murders and the Double Initial murders. Carmen Colón disappeared on November 16, 1971, and was found two days later; Wanda Walkowicz was taken on April 2, 1973, and Michelle Maenza on November 26, 1973, each found within days. Over the decades police questioned several suspects, including a relative of the first victim and, much later, convicted California murderer Joseph Naso — but DNA testing excluded Naso, and no one was ever charged. The murders remain unsolved.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Alphabet murders
- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle — retrospective coverage of the Double Initial murders (secondary reporting)