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

[rosemadderlake]

I want to add - I know her brother and best friend just want answers - lord knows, after 40 plus years that's all I would want. It's inconceivable that a loved one just vanishes... Who is responsible? I wonder if they have heard from some of Sylvia's circle, her peeps? Maybe the media push via the internet and this thread has brought some people out of silence for them? -I hope so.

 

[Jmoose]

I was looking for the pictures Joe Lwowski provided that included ones of Slyvia's fiance; I can't seem to find them now; I wonder if they were taken down. But if those pictures were removed, why wasn't the video outlining Sylvia's disappearance taken down, too? That's much easier to find than the pictures, if CC was concerned about it

 

[rosemadderlake]

Wondering why my post from last night was removed? All I said was that the pictures are still there on the NY State website....

 

[rosemadderlake]

...Maybe it was a blip with the new software because I still have last nights post on another screen. I like the new look of Websleuths - and the font is a tad bigger which is great!

 

[rosemadderlake]

I was looking for the pictures Joe Lwowski provided that included ones of Slyvia's fiance; I can't seem to find them now; I wonder if they were taken down. But if those pictures were removed, why wasn't the video outlining Sylvia's disappearance taken down, too? That's much easier to find than the pictures, if CC was concerned about it

I did a sweep of the places that have info on Sylvia and everything that was published a few years ago is still there. And it all cross references to her peeps. That video still burns me up, deliberately flawed, and the poster is no longer connected to WS. Oh well.

-Wish we knew if anything surfaced about Sylvia since then. Wish we knew what the cold case detectives think about her case. Wish we knew what her fiance thinks happened to her. Wish we knew why her mother believed she was alive. What seems particularly tragic though is too much time lapsed which would make tracking those who knew her in her community, neighborhood, school, etc., that much more difficult--moved away, passed away... I still wonder if there is extended family, too.

 

[Jmoose]

When I think of Sylvia's disappearance, I swing back and forth between the idea that all along, the authorities and her parents thought that she committed suicide-and the idea that the cold case detectives think that because there wasn't much of an investigation (that we know of), nothing will surface now. Sometimes it feels to me like the detectives who looked at this most recently would like to keep the chatter about it to a minimum to protect what could be a murder case, and at other times I think they just think it's a suicide, for which they are trying to be respectful. But I don't think anybody thinks she is still alive, and that she was after September 6, 1975.

That video...has not helped in any way, and it still irks me. And I still wonder about her brother Joe, who thinks his sister died that night, but who is also very reticent with what should be important details. Like-what would make him so sure his sister was killed by her fiance? Just the fact that she was last known to be in his company? There has to be something else, if he is so sure, and yet he couldn't say.

 

[rosemadderlake]

When I think of Sylvia's disappearance, I swing back and forth between the idea that all along, the authorities and her parents thought that she committed suicide-and the idea that the cold case detectives think that because there wasn't much of an investigation (that we know of), nothing will surface now. Sometimes it feels to me like the detectives who looked at this most recently would like to keep the chatter about it to a minimum to protect what could be a murder case, and at other times I think they just think it's a suicide, for which they are trying to be respectful. But I don't think anybody thinks she is still alive, and that she was after September 6, 1975.

That video...has not helped in any way, and it still irks me. And I still wonder about her brother Joe, who thinks his sister died that night, but who is also very reticent with what should be important details. Like-what would make him so sure his sister was killed by her fiance? Just the fact that she was last known to be in his company? There has to be something else, if he is so sure, and yet he couldn't say.

Very insightful Jmoose-

I have wondered would we know more about a depressed state of mind, previous event, instability, that would point to the possibility of a deliberate suicide? --Taking the fight with the BF/F as the truth, (no mercy if it is not) I think because of the fight and depending on her personality (fiery at times?) -could it have flung her out into a reckless state of mind? -Reckless, like she went running off and tried to swim across a harbor or something that night.

To think that there might have been a consensus all along and that's why the ongoing silence makes me wonder if any of her possessions were ever found? -Floating? -Would that be made public? -Without a body?

Yes, Sylvia's brother and best friend have the inside knowledge about her relationships - and can't cross or compromise certain lines in public - the newspaper articles really reflect that too.

 

[Jmoose]

I think if Sylvia was so depressed that she would have committed suicide, there is a possibility that the people closest to her might know. This is one of the things that I wish we could ask her mother about; I'm not sure her brother, at his relatively young age, could have put it together. I do think Sylvia's loved ones have information that they could add that would help complete the picture. In the long run, it's really none of our business, especially if Sylvia was suffering from depression, but it would help to know. I also think that the only way she could still be hidden if she committed suicide is if she ended up in the water, or ended up as an unidentified body, and buried with no name somewhere. This still seems rather unlikely to me, because I am hung up on the fact that she and her fiance were reported to have had a fight right before she disappeared. It just seems so typical of the situations that we are so familiar with here at Websleuths.

 

[rosemadderlake]

If I were Sylvia, I don't think I would put my BF/F in this position.... I mean after a fight I'd try to work it out, right?...eventually.... If I loved him... Right?

So, did I commit suicide? Did I runaway? Did I fight for my life? Did I get murdered?

One thing I know, I would move heaven and earth to to be with my loved ones....

So, am I still alive? Or, am I... Lost, buried, at sea, in a shallow grave, in a land fill, beautiful park, monument, zoo, on the rocks, in a stream, on the precipice, on the shores, party, sorority... Boat, flout, .swamp, highway, hitchhike, bus, train, ferry ride, bridge, walk, run, stop at a familiar place, home, nearby...

Why haven't we heard?
Xoxo
Rose

 

[Jmoose]

I just finished reading the latest posts over on Jan Cotta's missing person page; a newspaper article from 2007 was linked in one post, so I read it. In the article, one of Jan's sisters stated that there are friends who may know something but refuse to cooperate in the investigation. I thought that, although there is no allegation that friends are being uncooperative in Sylvia's case, it certainly feels as if someone must know something that they aren't divulging, regardless of what happened to Sylvia. Interestingly, Jan was pregnant and had a boyfriend that the police can't seem to question (or find!)

 

[rosemadderlake]

I just finished reading the latest posts over on Jan Cotta's missing person page; a newspaper article from 2007 was linked in one post, so I read it. In the article, one of Jan's sisters stated that there are friends who may know something but refuse to cooperate in the investigation. I thought that, although there is no allegation that friends are being uncooperative in Sylvia's case, it certainly feels as if someone must know something that they aren't divulging, regardless of what happened to Sylvia. Interestingly, Jan was pregnant and had a boyfriend that the police can't seem to question (or find!)

-Found the very interesting article you referenced, Jmoose - Re: Cotta cold case: Wall Twp NJ Police interviewed 250 people in 4 or 5 states over 2 years, in 2007 (34 years after she went missing) and there is a reward for information for her 1973 MP case. --It really makes me wonder what does it take to open a cold case?

Sylvia had several groups of peeps when she went missing. -Makes me wonder was anyone contacted at Wagner in 2010 when her brother tried to get the case opened? And the other groups? -Family, both sides, friends, HS, teachers, neighborhood, etc... Wagner & Sorority peeps would have been among the last to see her alive.

I have had and still have a sense the BF/F provided cooperation and some kind of proof of whereabouts in both 1975 & 2010 which is why he is not been named a POI - but he can certainly be found if they find new information or her body.

We know there was a party at Sylvia's house with her peeps, but no BF/F, a week or so before she went missing. Were those people tracked down and interviewed in 2010? This echos your Q about does someone know something???

Look at how detailed the article is about the Cotta MP case. -I so wish there was this kind of transparent investigative effort for Sylvia.

http://starnewsgroup.com/weekly/2007/03.29.07/pdf/03.29.07.pdf

 

[Jmoose]

-Found the very interesting article you referenced, Jmoose - Re: Cotta cold case: Wall Twp NJ Police interviewed 250 people in 4 or 5 states over 2 years, in 2007 (34 years after she went missing) and there is a reward for information for her 1973 MP case. --It really makes me wonder what does it take to open a cold case?

Sylvia had several groups of peeps when she went missing. -Makes me wonder was anyone contacted at Wagner in 2010 when her brother tried to get the case opened? And the other groups? -Family, both sides, friends, HS, teachers, neighborhood, etc... Wagner & Sorority peeps would have been among the last to see her alive.

I have had and still have a sense the BF/F provided cooperation and some kind of proof of whereabouts in both 1975 & 2010 which is why he is not been named a POI - but he can certainly be found if they find new information or her body.

We know there was a party at Sylvia's house with her peeps, but no BF/F, a week or so before she went missing. Were those people tracked down and interviewed in 2010? This echos your Q about does someone know something???

Look at how detailed the article is about the Cotta MP case. -I so wish there was this kind of transparent investigative effort for Sylvia.

http://starnewsgroup.com/weekly/2007/03.29.07/pdf/03.29.07.pdf

I wonder who Jan's sister meant when she talked about some friends not being cooperative? The police did interview so many people, but the family obviously think that some aren't willing to tell what they may know. Sylvia's brother and close friend appear to think that BF/F may not have been cooperative as well, although they may have no way of knowing whether or not the police spoke to him, and what he may have said if they did. I doubt that the police would even tell them if they had spoken to him (and they shouldn't, regardless of how frustrating it may be for the family). I do remember that the detective I spoke to said he would like to have a chance to speak to him, and for some reason, could not. But that doesn't mean there was no conversation in 1975. I cannot imagine how difficult the job of a cold case detective must be.

 

[Jmoose]

Bumping-because yesterday was Sylvia's birthday

 

[Pink Panther]

I don't think she committed suicide. I think she was murdered. I have no idea why her family decided to stay in the background rather than highlight the search for her…Perhaps there were other dynamics going on? I can't understand why her fiancé (even though he has married and moved on with his life) would not want to help/participate in the search for her and resolution of her case.

 

[Skigirl]

I don't think she committed suicide. I think she was murdered. I have no idea why her family decided to stay in the background rather than highlight the search for her…Perhaps there were other dynamics going on? I can't understand why her fiancé (even though he has married and moved on with his life) would not want to help/participate in the search for her and resolution of her case.

I think I know why her fiancé didn't want to participate in the resolution of her case!

 

[Jmoose]

I wish we had a better idea of what kind of investigation the police did in 1975, and what kind of cooperation they got from Sylvia's fiance and her family. It's possible that the fiance was questioned thoroughly, and his car searched in 1975; but the seeming lack of pressure at the time from Sylvia's family, combined with a lack of police resources at a bad time in NYC's history turns this into the perfect storm. And in addition, this was at a time before a woman's disappearance immediately pointed to her significant other (at least I think this was the thought process at the time). Now that we've all read about hundreds of cases here on Websleuths, the leap to the fiance being responsible seems natural. Her brother seems sure that he knows what happened to her-If her body is ever found (doubtful, in my opinion), we'll know at least some of the story

 

[Jmoose]

I just finished reading an article from a Pittsburgh newspaper that talked about the difficulty in getting an investigation going when an adult is missing; one of the things that was said to be important was constant pressure from the family of the missing person; like daily phone calls, for example. This is one of the things that we all seem to think did not happen. There can be at least a few reasons for this-for me, one reason could be the attitude of the police. We know that Sylvia's parents did report her missing as soon as the police would take a report. What we don't know is how the police handled the meeting with the Lwowskis, and we don't know if the Lwowskis were "in your face", persistent type people. Were the Lwowskis told not to bother them with phone calls ("don't call us, we'll call you")? Did the Lwowskis suspect that Sylvia was a likely runaway or suicide? These are things we will never know.

 

[rosemadderlake]

I think I know why her fiancé didn't want to participate in the resolution of her case!

Maybe they broke up? Maybe he was held accountable at the time for something he knew nothing about? We do not know.... I have not heard about the state of their relationship other than the "she had everything to live for and they had a fight"

One thing stands out - BF/F didn't run, lived on SI and went to school in NYC. And for years has lived with his family close by...

Sorry, but that does not jibe with the dead beats we read about in connection with the missing.

I could be WAY wrong - I'd be the first one to say I didn't read it , know it, E.S.P. it... But I don't think so.

Bring on Sylvia's admirers, her sorority, her marching band, her aquamarine biology, her neighborhood, her peeps, her unrequited loves from the past - red?, her mental state...

We need more and I know it is out there - so why won't her peeps come forward? Fear? Guilt? Remorse?

Hoping the more we keep posting, and keep Sylvia on the radar - someone will eventually chime in...
.

 

[Jmoose]

Maybe they broke up? Maybe he was held accountable at the time for something he knew nothing about? We do not know.... I have not heard about the state of their relationship other than the "she had everything to live for and they had a fight"

One thing stands out - BF/F didn't run, lived on SI and went to school in NYC. And for years has lived with his family close by...

Sorry, but that does not jibe with the dead beats we read about in connection with the missing.

I could be WAY wrong - I'd be the first one to say I didn't read it , know it, E.S.P. it... But I don't think so.

Bring on Sylvia's admirers, her sorority, her marching band, her aquamarine biology, her neighborhood, her peeps, her unrequited loves from the past - red?, her mental state...

We need more and I know it is out there - so why won't her peeps come forward? Fear? Guilt? Remorse?

Hoping the more we keep posting, and keep Sylvia on the radar - someone will eventually chime in...
.

I agree-where are all of the people who knew Sylvia? Especially the people who knew her with BF/F. We have a very one dimensional picture of Sylvia and her state of mind. I am hoping that some day one of these other people will end up here while searching for information about Sylvia

 

[Jmoose]

It's truly frustrating that there isn't more interest in what happened to Sylvia among all of the people who knew her. We've established that there were some other relatives, at least on her father's side, and she surely knew many, many people from all of her schools and assortment of interests. For the last 3 years I'm scratching my head over the seeming lack of curiosity about her disappearance-who among us here has never googled a friend they haven't seen in a very long time? There must have been at least a few of her college friends who've done so. And what about "Red"? Hard to imagine that he hasn't. Rose is right-there is much more going on here than we know-and it kind of ticks me off, actually.