A little surprised that there isn’t a thread for this case already. Not the highest profile case and certainly not a ton of information out there but it has gotten some television stories over the past decade or so, likely due to a friend of the victims who runs a Facebook page and who, at least at one point, offered a reward for information.
Carole Kresik was murdered in the early morning hours of December 6, 1986 in her apartment. She had returned home from spending a night out at the Monroeville Holiday Inn (about twenty minutes away from her apartment) listening to live music with a friend. It’s unknown if the perpetrator was waiting for her when she got home, entered with her or broke in afterward. A neighbor heard screams at some point and called police. When they arrived someone was heard moving around inside. When they finally forcibly entered it seems that the murderer had just exited out the dining room window in the rear of the apartment and probably into the woods/up the hill behind.
You sort of have to piece together a lot of info from different sources. The friend who runs the Facebook page is dedicated but different bits of info pop up in different posts. It’s said that she was attacked on her way home from work several years earlier. It’s also said that she was constatnly receiving harassing phone calls. One of the few newspaper articles that can be found states that while she “kept to herself,” she did socialize and had friends. This is obvious since she was out that night with one. According to one of his Facebook posts the friend who runs the page had dated Carole in the early ‘70s. Sadly, it seems that her entire casefile, including hairs of the murderer found at the scene, was thrown away after a flood.
The apartment is still there today. The small children’s playground across the road from it was dedicated to Carole’s memory in recent years. The Holiday Inn she was returning home from was turned into a Best Western not long ago as a new Holiday Inn Express was built not far away.
The area wasn’t the best then nor is it now, but it’s not the absolute worst in the Pittsburgh area, either. In 1986 it was a center of economic depression after the Pittsburgh mills and other industry was disappearing. Carole herself felt that as it’s said that she was laid off from her job at Westinghouse the previous year. Monroeville, where she was out with her friend that night, is still relatively thriving. It’s pretty much a destination suburb and really always has been. In the ‘60s and ‘70s it was known for The Holiday House (a “connected” establishment that hosted acts ranging from Bud Abbott, Liberace and even The Three Stooges in their later years) and in the ‘70s and ‘80s for Monroeville Mall (Dawn of the Dead). Nowadays it’s still a heavy commercial and retail area. It’s probably best known now for the Steel City Con show held three times a year (that draws fans even from other countries to meet celebrities) and because it was mentioned a few times on “Scrubs” as the hometown of one of the characters. Monroeville is also much more dangerous now than it was in ’86.
I lived about 15 minutes away from Carole when this happened. I was very young and even if I’d overheard people talking about it I wouldn’t have grasped it. I first remember learning about it roughly a decade ago and I’ve only ever heard one other person, a co-worker who lives close to Carole’s apartment, bring it up. I sometimes wonder if my father ever met Carole as he worked for Westinghouse and was moved around to various locations often. So often these cold cases feel so far removed, but even now I work not far from her area.
I don’t think that this will be solved now unless they miraculously find those lost hairs or new information is provided. In any case it would be nice to have more photos of Carole as most seem to date from her high school years. I echo the sentiments of her friend that runs her Facebook page in that it’s sad to think of what her future could have been like.
Remember Carole Ann Kresik
Carole Kresik was murdered in the early morning hours of December 6, 1986 in her apartment. She had returned home from spending a night out at the Monroeville Holiday Inn (about twenty minutes away from her apartment) listening to live music with a friend. It’s unknown if the perpetrator was waiting for her when she got home, entered with her or broke in afterward. A neighbor heard screams at some point and called police. When they arrived someone was heard moving around inside. When they finally forcibly entered it seems that the murderer had just exited out the dining room window in the rear of the apartment and probably into the woods/up the hill behind.
You sort of have to piece together a lot of info from different sources. The friend who runs the Facebook page is dedicated but different bits of info pop up in different posts. It’s said that she was attacked on her way home from work several years earlier. It’s also said that she was constatnly receiving harassing phone calls. One of the few newspaper articles that can be found states that while she “kept to herself,” she did socialize and had friends. This is obvious since she was out that night with one. According to one of his Facebook posts the friend who runs the page had dated Carole in the early ‘70s. Sadly, it seems that her entire casefile, including hairs of the murderer found at the scene, was thrown away after a flood.
The apartment is still there today. The small children’s playground across the road from it was dedicated to Carole’s memory in recent years. The Holiday Inn she was returning home from was turned into a Best Western not long ago as a new Holiday Inn Express was built not far away.
The area wasn’t the best then nor is it now, but it’s not the absolute worst in the Pittsburgh area, either. In 1986 it was a center of economic depression after the Pittsburgh mills and other industry was disappearing. Carole herself felt that as it’s said that she was laid off from her job at Westinghouse the previous year. Monroeville, where she was out with her friend that night, is still relatively thriving. It’s pretty much a destination suburb and really always has been. In the ‘60s and ‘70s it was known for The Holiday House (a “connected” establishment that hosted acts ranging from Bud Abbott, Liberace and even The Three Stooges in their later years) and in the ‘70s and ‘80s for Monroeville Mall (Dawn of the Dead). Nowadays it’s still a heavy commercial and retail area. It’s probably best known now for the Steel City Con show held three times a year (that draws fans even from other countries to meet celebrities) and because it was mentioned a few times on “Scrubs” as the hometown of one of the characters. Monroeville is also much more dangerous now than it was in ’86.
I lived about 15 minutes away from Carole when this happened. I was very young and even if I’d overheard people talking about it I wouldn’t have grasped it. I first remember learning about it roughly a decade ago and I’ve only ever heard one other person, a co-worker who lives close to Carole’s apartment, bring it up. I sometimes wonder if my father ever met Carole as he worked for Westinghouse and was moved around to various locations often. So often these cold cases feel so far removed, but even now I work not far from her area.
I don’t think that this will be solved now unless they miraculously find those lost hairs or new information is provided. In any case it would be nice to have more photos of Carole as most seem to date from her high school years. I echo the sentiments of her friend that runs her Facebook page in that it’s sad to think of what her future could have been like.
Remember Carole Ann Kresik
