The Doe Network: 2818DFNY
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2818dfny.html
Arlene Abbas
Missing since January 6, 1989 from Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing
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Vital Statistics
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 160 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Strawberry blonde hair; blue eyes.
Clothing: May be wearing traditional Muslim clothing.
Medical: Mental health issues
Dentals: Not available.
AKA: Arlene Day Abbas
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Circumstances of Disappearance
Arlene Abbas was born in Indiana and eventually married and went to live in New Orleans with her husband and children. Arlene converted to the Islamic faith at the time of her marriage. In the mid 1980's Arlene and her husband were divorced and Arlene went to New York, leaving her small children with her husband.
In 1989 she was hospitalized in New York city for mental health issues and subsequently released to a halfway house in Brooklyn. Arlene left the halfway house in Brooklyn on January 6, 1989 and was never seen again.
It is possible Arlene is institutionalized or does not know how to contact family members
The Doe Network:
Case File 288UFNJ
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/288ufnj.html
Unidentified White Female
Discovered on March 5, 1989 in Mercer County, New Jersey.
She was a victim of homicide.
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Vital Statistics
Estimated age: 18 - 30 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'0"-5'9"; 100 - 140 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Dirty blonde to light brown hair; blue eyes. Mole on left chin; 1' to 1.5" scar over left eye. Ear lobes scarred from piercing. Blood type A. HIV positive.
Dentals: All teeth had been extracted except for 3rd molars which were incompletely erupted or impacted.
Other: Her name may be Susie.
DNA: Available.
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Case History
The victim was murdered by Joel David Rifkin in March 1989. He picked her up in Manhattans East Village, NY at around 10:00 pm. She was a drug addict and prostitute.
Rifkin beat and strangled her and then dismembered her body. To foil identification, Rifkin severed her fingertips and pulled her teeth with pliers, then jammed her severed head into an old paint can.
Rifkin drove the body parts across the state line to New Jersey, dropping the head and legs in the woods near Hopewell. Then he returned to Manhattan, pitching the arms and torso into the East River. On March 5, 1989, a member of the Hopewell Valley Golf Club in Hopewell Township, NJ found the can containing the victim's head near the 7th tee. Her legs were found in Pequonnock Creek, Jefferson Township, NJ on 4/8/89. Match confirmed by DNA testing.
The case remained unsolved until Rifkin confessed in 1993.