NY NY - Sylvia Lwowski, 22, Staten Island, 6 Sept 1975 - #4

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Sylvia Alice Lwowski, 22, Missing since September 6, 1975 from Staten Island, NY

Sylvia Alice Lwowski
Missing since September 6, 1975 from Staten Island, Richmond County, New York
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics

Date of Birth: April 28, 1953
Age at Time of Disappearance: 22 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'4-5'6"; 120-125 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Long, straight blonde hair; hazel eyes. Wears glasses.
Marks, Scars: Pierced ears.
Jewelry: Heart shaped engagement ring; a watch. She was carrying a handbag.
Dentals: Not available.
Fingerprints: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance

On September 6, 1975, Sylvia went out with her fiance to a movie. He returned stating that during an argument, she thew her glasses against the dashboard and ran from the car. Sylvia has not been seen since.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

New York City Police
718-834-4580

Agency Case Number: 10074

Source Information:

Namus
The Doe Network: Case File 2928DFNY

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2928dfny.html

===============
 
Hoping that we will continue here...
 
Link to Thread 3, Post 2 for police report and newspaper article re Sylvia's engagement.

Link to Thread 2, Post 15 for Timeline.

Link to Case Map.

Links to Rose's posts listing links to Wagnerian articles:

Thread 3, Post 966 (5.8.73, Pp. 9 & 11, Marine Biology trip to Bermuda)

Thread 3, Post 967 (4.3.73, Pg. 7, photo of Wagner Marching Band, list of band personnel)

Thread 3, Post 992 (11.15.74, Pg. 1, death of Helen Surgan; 4.18.05, Pg.4, remembrance)

Thread 3, Post 999 (10.31.72, Pg. 1, Wagner Girls molested on campus; pg. 4, editorial on same)

Thread 3, Post 1001 (10.3.73, Pp. 1 & 2, Assault in Harbor View Hall)

Rose, I got as many of the Wagnerian articles as I could without getting overly confused :) If I missed any that you think are important (I am recalling one about one of SL's teachers dying?), can you post links to them?

Verified Insiders are:
  • ASWDeerHunter
  • MMQC

Link to Thread #1
Link to Thread #2
Link to Thread #3
 
Here are a couple more.


Thread 3: Pg. 38, Skeet, Post 933
-Letter about Biology trip 05.01.74.
http://library.wagner.edu/wagnerian/1974/wagnerian_05-01-74.pdf


Thread 3: Pg. 39, Rose, Post 973
“…consolidate the recent articles and links if that helps to have in one post.”

Wagnerian Newpaper Archives
http://wagnerian.omeka.net

Dr. Walter Kanzler, Asst. Prof. Biology, Wagnerian Feb. 27, 1973, pg. 8
http://wagnerian.omeka.net/items/show/2494

Dr. Walter Kanzler, Memorial Newsletter, ‘Limulus’ (Wagner’s Biology newsletter) September 2009
http://wagner.wpengine.netdna-cdn.co...al-Kanzler.pdf

"Vacation Bio Lab" Marine Biology trip to Bermuda, 1973, Wagnerian May 8, 1973 - pg. 9, cont'd pg. 11.
http://wagnerian.omeka.net/items/show/2500
 
Something just struck me as curious-we know that Sylvia's disappearance started getting some attention in 2010, after Sylvia's brother started rattling cages, and this is also when her case was entered on Namus. But her profile was entered in The Charley Project initially in 2004-I wonder who was driving it then? Sylvia was not, and still is not listed on either the NYPD's missing person site, or the NYSP missing person site-I wonder where Charley Project's site admin got the information in 2004?
 
Hi Everyone: I just got an idea. My mom went to PRHS and so did I. I don't recall the name, but my mother might have a memory. Some of the families in the area were there for years and she'd know right away. Might even be in her yearbook. In any event, let me know if you think the information is too sensitive to post here. If so, maybe we could correspond by PM. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Hi galillian-
It is a great idea. I wouldn’t publish names here, but any connection to Sylvia, someone’s memory of her, her disappearance, or the night she disappeared, you never know…

Who else knew her (friends and teachers)? A fairly large percentage of Staten Islander’s went to college on the island. And as you point out, families have been there for generations… Any new information or another connection might be really helpful.
 
Hi Galillian-yes, great idea! It would be very interesting to see what you have there. This case is fascinating, in the way that it keeps morphing.
 
This happened in the 1970s, and you have to take something into account. You needed no documentation to get a social security card, I just mailed in a form from the post office. No ID was needed. When I got my driver's license, I only need a school form, or a utility bill. Just to show I lived there. The requirements were different for each state though. In the 1980s, you could order anyone's birth certificate and use it to change your identity. It was the thing to shop for identities in the local graveyards.
Also, her throwing the glasses. I was on a fishing boat in Alaska and had an argument with an old man who thought he could grab me when he wanted. I didn't want to wake the skipper, and I didn't want to return to my berth where I could be cornered. I knew I was only 10 mile from Haines Ak and I took off without my glasses along a dirt road which meandered through the wilderness. Luckily I was picked up by probably the only car to travel that day. The next day the Skipper returned my glasses.
These kind of things happen.
Of course this is just my experience coloring my opinion of the case. I think she is alive.
:seeya:
 
Suppose Sylvia was found at some point after Sept 6th, 1975, and it was determined that she'd committed suicide (not that I think this is what happened), but for some reason, wasn't identified as a match to the missing person report. She would have been buried in Potter's field, or cremated in one of the states that do that-would the authorities have kept tissue samples (if any existed), or anything else which would be able to be compared in the future? I can't help wondering if she was found at some point and overlooked because 35 years went by before the Cold Case Squad looked at this case and started taking her disappearance seriously. Since almost no pre-1980 evidence reportedly exists of this type in NYC, I guess it doesn't really matter-I just wonder if she was found and not identified, and now, cannot be.
 
Jmoose said:
Suppose Sylvia was found at some point after Sept 6th, 1975, and it was determined that she'd committed suicide (not that I think this is what happened), but for some reason, wasn't identified as a match to the missing person report. She would have been buried in Potter's field, or cremated in one of the states that do that-would the authorities have kept tissue samples (if any existed), or anything else which would be able to be compared in the future? I can't help wondering if she was found at some point and overlooked because 35 years went by before the Cold Case Squad looked at this case and started taking her disappearance seriously. Since almost no pre-1980 evidence reportedly exists of this type in NYC, I guess it doesn't really matter-I just wonder if she was found and not identified, and now, cannot be.
Click to expand...

Hi Jmoose!
Bbm: -Many unknown factors with Sylvia. Aren't they exhuming bodies in Potters Field to collect DNA?

I would think the CCS did some cross checking of the unidentified, especially in NY, NJ. Wouldn't they? Did they look through the unidentified jewelry?

You raise an important question though - what were the standards of cataloging the unidentified before DNA; ME reports, photographs, dental charting, forensic sketch, foot and fingerprints, blood and tissue?

I really hope whatever piece is holding this case back will surface someday.
 
glamourkitty1922 said:
This happened in the 1970s, and you have to take something into account. You needed no documentation to get a social security card, I just mailed in a form from the post office. No ID was needed. When I got my driver's license, I only need a school form, or a utility bill. Just to show I lived there. The requirements were different for each state though. In the 1980s, you could order anyone's birth certificate and use it to change your identity. It was the thing to shop for identities in the local graveyards.
Also, her throwing the glasses. I was on a fishing boat in Alaska and had an argument with an old man who thought he could grab me when he wanted. I didn't want to wake the skipper, and I didn't want to return to my berth where I could be cornered. I knew I was only 10 mile from Haines Ak and I took off without my glasses along a dirt road which meandered through the wilderness. Luckily I was picked up by probably the only car to travel that day. The next day the Skipper returned my glasses.
These kind of things happen.
Of course this is just my experience coloring my opinion of the case. I think she is alive.
:seeya:
Click to expand...

Glamourkitty -

Bbm: From the beginning, I have thought this a strong possibility because as difficult as this is on her loved ones who have shared here, there is an inaccessible feeling I get about her story. Whatever we cannot know may be the key to where she is, dead or alive.

As the thread progressed I became less and less hopeful which is why I loved reading your post. Thanks for posting your thoughts!
 
Wow-I never expected that LE would be able to identify a suspect in Tiffany Session's disappearance!
 
rosemadderlake said:
Hi Jmoose!
Bbm: -Many unknown factors with Sylvia. Aren't they exhuming bodies in Potters Field to collect DNA?

I would think the CCS did some cross checking of the unidentified, especially in NY, NJ. Wouldn't they? Did they look through the unidentified jewelry?

You raise an important question though - what were the standards of cataloging the unidentified before DNA; ME reports, photographs, dental charting, forensic sketch, foot and fingerprints, blood and tissue?

I really hope whatever piece is holding this case back will surface someday.
Click to expand...

I'm sure that the cold case detectives did cross check unidentified bodies with Sylvia-but sometimes, without DNA to test, it's hard to match-like, for instance, the Irondequoit Jane Doe with no retrievable DNA, and with no dental charting for Sylvia. Irondequoit Jane Doe may never be identified for certain, I think (I no longer think it's possible that she could be Sylvia). We have the description of Sylvia as given by her family, for height and weight, as well as other descriptive features, but sometimes these features are wrong, or incomplete, unless there are medical records that might be more accurate as far as height goes, for example. My husband knows how tall I am, because it comes up fairly often-he is 6'4, and I am 5'0-but I don't know if any of my siblings or even my dad could say for certain that my height is 5'0-they might just say that I am "pretty short". They might also say that I have really nice, straight teeth, but have no idea how many fillings I have. Sylvia's parents probably knew what the state of her teeth were, but we don't, as far as I know, have any description from them-just from her brother and her friend, and they might not know. She likely had no tattoos, because not many women were tattooing in those days, and tattooing in NYC was illegal then, so no help there. Also, any jewelry which could have been found with a body, and could have been matched to Sylvia, likely no longer existed in evidence by the time the cold case detectives looked at the case, if the information in The Restless Sleep was accurate. I do believe BF/F had the ring back, however that might have happened, so that would have left her with a watch which probably wasn't distinctive (she wasn't rich-maybe a timex), and a pair of earrings, since her ears were pierced).

I just wonder if, in the case of what may have been a suicide that they couldn't or didn't identify as Sylvia back in the 70's, she could have been buried in Potter's field so there was no UID for the cold case detectives to compare to her? I still don't believe suicide is likely (but it's not impossible).

I didn't realize that they were exhuming bodies from Potter's Field, and doing DNA testing-I wonder how many missing people will be identified?
 
Jmoose said:
I'm sure that the cold case detectives did cross check unidentified bodies with Sylvia-but sometimes, without DNA to test, it's hard to match-like, for instance, the Irondequoit Jane Doe with no retrievable DNA, and with no dental charting for Sylvia. Irondequoit Jane Doe may never be identified for certain, I think (I no longer think it's possible that she could be Sylvia). We have the description of Sylvia as given by her family, for height and weight, as well as other descriptive features, but sometimes these features are wrong, or incomplete, unless there are medical records that might be more accurate as far as height goes, for example. My husband knows how tall I am, because it comes up fairly often-he is 6'4, and I am 5'0-but I don't know if any of my siblings or even my dad could say for certain that my height is 5'0-they might just say that I am "pretty short". They might also say that I have really nice, straight teeth, but have no idea how many fillings I have. Sylvia's parents probably knew what the state of her teeth were, but we don't, as far as I know, have any description from them-just from her brother and her friend, and they might not know. She likely had no tattoos, because not many women were tattooing in those days, and tattooing in NYC was illegal then, so no help there. Also, any jewelry which could have been found with a body, and could have been matched to Sylvia, likely no longer existed in evidence by the time the cold case detectives looked at the case, if the information in The Restless Sleep was accurate. I do believe BF/F had the ring back, however that might have happened, so that would have left her with a watch which probably wasn't distinctive (she wasn't rich-maybe a timex), and a pair of earrings, since her ears were pierced).

I just wonder if, in the case of what may have been a suicide that they couldn't or didn't identify as Sylvia back in the 70's, she could have been buried in Potter's field so there was no UID for the cold case detectives to compare to her? I still don't believe suicide is likely (but it's not impossible).

I didn't realize that they were exhuming bodies from Potter's Field, and doing DNA testing-I wonder how many missing people will be identified?
Click to expand...

I know, it is definitely possible she may never be matched, if she died soon after she went missing and was never identified. I do think her stats are accurate, though. She lived at home and I think EL knew her size. And even without her dental charting, her brother's description of perfect teeth and no cavities was accurate enough for Namus to rule out Irondequoit Jane Doe even though one doesn't know that from looking at Namus where it says dental charting "currently unavailable". One has to find that information on Websleuths.

Bbm - Many of the older UID cases I see on Namus have photographs of jewelery, clothing, etc., which suggests UID's and included items found were photographed and cataloged. - I do wonder how many UID cases are not on Namus though.


-Here is one article on Potters field.
Unearthing Remains in Potter's Field to Give Names Back to the Nameless

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/n...ves-to-identify-dead.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
 
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