Richard
08-24-2009, 03:35 PM
Rebecca Ann Triska
Missing since September 19, 1958 from Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'1".
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Red hair; blue eyes. Lots of freckles.
Clothing: Green cashmere sweater; black velvet slacks; black suede tie shoes.
DNA: Available
Nickname: Becky
Circumstances of Disappearance
Triska was last seen around 11:45pm in a car with an unidentified "older" male at the Route 88 Drive-In Restaurant in Harmony Township, just north of Ambridge, Pennsylvania on September 19, 1958.
She never made it home.
She had gone to a teen dance in Ambridge with friends. Becky left the dance at about 11:30pm. Some news reports say that she was going to catch a bus home. Others say that she told two of her friends that she was going to meet a girlfriend at the nearby Ambridge Theater.
Two boys who happened to leave the dance around the same time spoke to Becky in front of the theater. She was alone, but an "older" man, they estimated around 35, was standing in the area and offered to give Becky a ride home. The boys commented that the man was too old to give Becky a ride and, they said, he walked away.
Police arrested an Ambridge man when they learned that the car Becky was last seen in closely resembled his car. At the time, he was a parolee on a Florida morals charge. He denied knowing Becky, but refused to take a lie detector test. He was held on suspicion of a felony, while his car was sent to the Allegheny County Crime Lab. Investigators found some blood stains and strands of red hair in the car. An attempt was made to match the hair samples from the car against hair taken from Becky's hairbrush, but without the tools available today, it was never definitively proven that the hairs were Becky's. He stated that he had three nieces with red hair and the blood was his.
Additionally, he had an alibi. Police learned the identity of the girl that he had a date with on the night Becky disappeared. The girl told police that they had attended a football game in Alliquippa and had parted company between 11:30 and 11:45 that night.
With no body and not enough evidence, he was released. He was never charged for Becky's murder.
In 1962, this same man was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1961 beating death of 13-year old Jane Benfield of Centralia, Columbia County. His death sentence was later commuted to life. He died in prison of cancer in the '90s.
Rebecca Ann Triska was declared dead in 1967. Her date of death was recorded as September 19, 1965, seven years after she was last seen.
Her body has never been found.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Beaver County Detective Bureau
724-773-8576
Source Information:
Pennsylvania Missing Persons
The Doe Network: Case File 1804DFPA
LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1804dfpa.html
Missing since September 19, 1958 from Ambridge, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'1".
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Red hair; blue eyes. Lots of freckles.
Clothing: Green cashmere sweater; black velvet slacks; black suede tie shoes.
DNA: Available
Nickname: Becky
Circumstances of Disappearance
Triska was last seen around 11:45pm in a car with an unidentified "older" male at the Route 88 Drive-In Restaurant in Harmony Township, just north of Ambridge, Pennsylvania on September 19, 1958.
She never made it home.
She had gone to a teen dance in Ambridge with friends. Becky left the dance at about 11:30pm. Some news reports say that she was going to catch a bus home. Others say that she told two of her friends that she was going to meet a girlfriend at the nearby Ambridge Theater.
Two boys who happened to leave the dance around the same time spoke to Becky in front of the theater. She was alone, but an "older" man, they estimated around 35, was standing in the area and offered to give Becky a ride home. The boys commented that the man was too old to give Becky a ride and, they said, he walked away.
Police arrested an Ambridge man when they learned that the car Becky was last seen in closely resembled his car. At the time, he was a parolee on a Florida morals charge. He denied knowing Becky, but refused to take a lie detector test. He was held on suspicion of a felony, while his car was sent to the Allegheny County Crime Lab. Investigators found some blood stains and strands of red hair in the car. An attempt was made to match the hair samples from the car against hair taken from Becky's hairbrush, but without the tools available today, it was never definitively proven that the hairs were Becky's. He stated that he had three nieces with red hair and the blood was his.
Additionally, he had an alibi. Police learned the identity of the girl that he had a date with on the night Becky disappeared. The girl told police that they had attended a football game in Alliquippa and had parted company between 11:30 and 11:45 that night.
With no body and not enough evidence, he was released. He was never charged for Becky's murder.
In 1962, this same man was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1961 beating death of 13-year old Jane Benfield of Centralia, Columbia County. His death sentence was later commuted to life. He died in prison of cancer in the '90s.
Rebecca Ann Triska was declared dead in 1967. Her date of death was recorded as September 19, 1965, seven years after she was last seen.
Her body has never been found.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Beaver County Detective Bureau
724-773-8576
Source Information:
Pennsylvania Missing Persons
The Doe Network: Case File 1804DFPA
LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1804dfpa.html