NY NY - Christa Nicole Belusko, 2, Staten Island, 20 Sep 1991

[Mysteries1974]

Have you seen this child? Christa Belusco

Missing From: STATEN ISLAND, NY. Missing Date: Fri, Sep 20 1991. Christa was last seen in Staten Island, New York with her mother.

www.missingkids.org

Christa was last seen with her mother at the Mount Airy Lodge in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania about a week prior to the disappearance date

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Christa Belusko – The Charley Project

Added to the charley project.

 

[cvaldez1975]

this was her mother

NY - NY - Staten Island, WhtFem 16-27, UP2689, scorpion tattoo, ring watch, dress, sneakers, Sep'91

Missing Person / NamUs #MP34539 Debra Marie Adams, Female, White / Caucasian Date of Last Contact March 31, 1989 Missing From Abilene, Texas The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Resemblance is uncanny, also height, weight and age range is ok! The timeline works...

www.websleuths.com

when they notified her brother, he let them know she had a child. so this is when they figured out she is missing.

 

[DS2021]

Why'd NCMEC pull her case file?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Staten Island authorities identified the woman killed in a murder that stumped investigators for decades. The identification of the victim — Christine Belusko, from Morris County, New Jersey — is the latest breakthrough in a cold case that occurred in 1991.

“This is a story about a brutal and depraved murder, depraved acts of violence that killed this young girl in her prime,” said Richmond County District Attorney Michael E. McMahon at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “And the dumping of her body in a lonely and desolate field on the east shore of Staten Island exactly 31-and-a-half years ago.”

The perpetrator – who remains unidentified – bludgeoned, strangled and set Belusko on fire before discarding her body in the Ocean Breeze neighborhood on Sept. 20, 1991, police said Tuesday. Because police were unable to identify her with fingerprints or police sketches, Belusko became known by a scorpion tattoo on her right buttock.

The weapon found at the scene – a blood-stained hammer with the name ‘Loyd L’ scratched into the handle – also failed to lead to any suspects.

NYC authorities identify New Jersey woman murdered in decades-old cold case

Police on Staten Island, who have yet to identify the assailant, are now scrambling to locate the victim’s daughter, who is now 33.

gothamist.com

 

[Romulus]

Christa Nicole Belusko – The Charley Project

Christa Nicole Belusko​

Christa, circa 1991; Jane Doe; Christine Belusko

• Missing Since: 09/20/1991
• Missing From: Staten Island, New York
• Classification: Endangered Missing
• Sex: Female
• Race: White
• Date of Birth: 08/01/1989 (33)
• Age: 2 years old
• Height and Weight: 2'4, 30 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance​

Christa's date of disappearance is given as September 20, 1991 and the place as Staten Island, New York. However, the last time anyone actually saw her was about a week before September 20, with her mother, Christine Belusko, at the Mount Airy Lodge in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.
Christine's remains were found in a patch of weeds off the roadside in South Beach, a neighborhood of the New York City borough of Staten Island, just after dawn on September 20. She'd been handcuffed and struck 17 times with a hammer and strangled, and the hammer was found under her body, which had been set on fire. There was no sign of the baby at the scene.
The hammer was inscribed with the name "Loyd L". Christine was wearing a black dress with a pink collar and pockets, Thom McAn sneakers, two gold chains and a ring with a watch face. She had a pack of Newport cigarettes and 30 cents in change. A photo of Christine is posted with this case summary, as is a sketch of the dead woman who turned out to be her.
Her body was not identified until March 2023, over 30 years after her death. Her last known address was Clifton, New Jersey, though she was staying with Christa at the Mount Airy Lodge at the time of her death. No one has ever been charged in her murder or Christa's disappearance. Authorities stated they were uncertain who Christa's father was.
Christa's whereabouts, and the identity of Christine's killer, are unknown. Authorities are attempting to locate Christa.

 

[jennytrevor]

I'm hoping she was adopted out to another family, as in the case of Holly Marie Clouse.

 

[dotr]

Also posted on Christa's mother's Ws thread.

Identified! - NY - Staten Island, WhtFem 16-27, UP2689, scorpion tattoo, ring watch, dress, sneakers, Sep'91 Christine Belusko

https://abc7ny.com/staten-island-unidentified-woman-homicide-murder-investigation/12987389/ ''Investigators also revealed Tuesday that Belusko had a daughter who was two years old at the time of Belusko's murder. They identified the child, who would now be 34 years old, as Christa Nicole. They...

www.websleuths.com

March 22 2023

''Cold case victim ID'd, now investigators search for her daughter''​

 

[Laughing]

So any word on the identity of Christa's father???

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Christine's former(?) husband has a bit of a questionable record.

 

[dotr]

• Mar. 23, 2023 by David Luces
• Do you recognize Christa Nicole? Investigators seek daughter of N.J. woman in 1991 cold-case.
• 
• Prosecutors released this image of what Christa Nicole Belusko would look like in 2023. She was 2 when her mother was killed.

“We can never bring her [Christine] back, but we want Christa Nicole to know, and her family, that she was never forgotten,” District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said during a press conference Tuesday.

“We continue to make efforts to locate Christa Nicole, so we can let her know who her mother was and what has been done in this case,” McMahon added.

Belusko, of Morris County, was first identified in April 2021.

In June of 2021, her brother was informed of his sister’s death. That’s when prosecutors learned she had a daughter.

Prosecutors showed an age-progression photo of Christa Nicole that was created by the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Christa Nicole was born on Aug. 1, 1989 at Barnert Memorial Hospital in Paterson. She is currently 33 years old.

“We are seeking the public’s assistance in solving the homicide and determining the whereabouts of Christa Nicole,” said Dave Nilsen, chief of the district attorney’s Detective Investigators Squad.''

 

[victoriarobinson642]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Now in NAMUS

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Do you recognize Christa Nicole? Police are still looking for the daughter of Christine Belusko, the victim of a cold case on Staten Island
Belusko is thought to have lived in Morris County, but no one reported her missing.
When prosecutors used forensic genealogy to finally identify Belusko, it left detectives with a lingering question: What happened to Christa Nicole?

"Our work will not be done until we solve this case once and for all. We implore anyone who might have information to contact us so we can find Christa Nicole, and bring justice to the memory of the girl with the scorpion tattoo,” District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said.

The identity of Belusko was revealed to police in April 2021, according to Dave Nilsen, chief of the district attorney's Detective Investigators Squad.

Belusko's brother learned of her death in June 2021. During that interview, prosecutors discovered she had a daughter.

Prosecutors used a PowerPoint presentation to show an age-progression photo of Christa Nicole created by the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Daughter Of Murdered Morris Co. Woman Still Missing After 30 Years

Do you recognize Christa Nicole? Police are still looking for the daughter of Christine Belusko, the victim of a cold case on Staten Island.

patch.com

 

[chaddylex]

Going West Podcast just released an episode about Christa and her mom Christine.

Christine & Christa Belusko // 341 by Going West: True Crime

megaphone.link

 

[brooklynbound]

 

[caradana]

Asking the deep researchers here: what is the Morris County, NJ connection here? Morris is among the wealthiest counties in the US, the former prosecutorial home of Chris Christie, cases like this take fire in MC and even in Union County, which is neighboring. What is the running local theory of this case?

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Long, interesting article.

Holding out hope for a cold-case miracle: Detectives, kin try to learn missing daughter’s fate

Christa Nicole Belusko was only 2 when her mother's body was found on Staten Island in 1991. Her whereabouts have been unknown since.

www.silive.com

December 10, 2024

 

[jennytrevor]

Long, interesting article.

Holding out hope for a cold-case miracle: Detectives, kin try to learn missing daughter’s fate

Christa Nicole Belusko was only 2 when her mother's body was found on Staten Island in 1991. Her whereabouts have been unknown since.

www.silive.com

December 10, 2024

Great article! It seems to me that the likely suspect in the murder of Christine is the married man Christine ran away to be with. Like many married men who have affairs, I’m sure he was leading Christine along throughout their whole affair that he wanted to leave his wife for her. Then when push came to shove, he decided it would be easier to just dispose of Christine instead.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this married man was also the father of Christa and that’s why Christine was so secretive about her paternity. So if Christa is ever tracked down one day, there may be a shot at finding Christine’s killer. I can’t decide if it seems more likely for a man in this situation to kill his own daughter or abandon her. It makes me think of Terry Rasmussen. He killed the 3 Bear Brooks children (one of whom was his bio child) but also abandoned a child in another instance.

 

[sjd17]

Great article! It seems to me that the likely suspect in the murder of Christine is the married man Christine ran away to be with. Like many married men who have affairs, I’m sure he was leading Christine along throughout their whole affair that he wanted to leave his wife for her. Then when push came to shove, he decided it would be easier to just dispose of Christine instead.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this married man was also the father of Christa and that’s why Christine was so secretive about her paternity. So if Christa is ever tracked down one day, there may be a shot at finding Christine’s killer. I can’t decide if it seems more likely for a man in this situation to kill his own daughter or abandon her. It makes me think of Terry Rasmussen. He killed the 3 Bear Brooks children (one of whom was his bio child) but also abandoned a child in another instance.

Rasmussen would have been in California when Christa was conceived and born, but it does make me wonder if he could have convinced her to run away with him and he is responsible. Absolutely no proof of this, just a thought.

He could have killed Christine, and used Christa for a while to lure other women and seem trustworthy. We know he traveled with Denise's daughter for five years before abandoning her.

 

[Romulus]

5347DFPA - Christa Nicole Belusko​

Right: Age-progressed to 33 years.
Name: Christa Nicole Belusko
Nickname/Alias: Tiki
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: September 20, 1991
Location Last Seen: Mount Pocono, Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: August 1, 1989
Age: 2 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 2'8" - 3'0"
Weight: 20 - 30 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Christa was last seen in the company of her mother in September, 1991, at the Mount Airy Lodge in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. She was two years old at the time. On September 20, 1991, the body of an unidentified female was found murdered in Staten Island, NY. The victim remained unidentified until 2021, when forensic genealogy helped to identify her as Christine Belusko. When investigators notified Christine's family of her death, they learned that she had a two year old daughter who was unaccounted for. Christine and Christa were never reported missing by family because Christine had left her home in Clifton, NJ, claiming to be moving to Florida, and had asked family and friends not to try and contact her. It was shortly after this that she was known to be staying at the Mt. Airy Lodge.

It is unknown what date Christa was actually last seen, but it was likely before 9/20, since Christine's body was found in the early morning hours of 9/20. It is possible that Christa could still be alive today, unaware of her past. It is also unknown who Christa's father is.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: Richmond County District Attorney's Office
Agency Contact Person: Patrick Savage
Agency Phone Number: 718-697-8323
Agency E-mail: [email protected]
Agency Case Number: SI-2022-040
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 92642
NCMEC Case Number: 1454514

Information Source(s)​

NamUs
NCMEC
CNN, March 4, 2023

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=5347DFPA