NY NY - Denise Sheehy, 16, Woodside, 7 July 1970

[madamx]

I JUST came across this news paper article and it totally reminded me of Denise Sheehy and the theory of the overdose in the cemetery . It's so weird I have been saying this for a while. I wonder if they ever identified this girl?

Body of Unidentified Woman Found in Queens Cemetery

The body of an unidentified woman about 17 to 19 years old was found yesterday lying between two graves in Calvary Cemetery near 52d Street and Queens Boulevard, in the Woodside section of Queens.

The young woman, whose clothing was in disarray, had bruise on her left arm, leading police to believe that she may have died from an overdose of narcotics and then her body was dumped by a companion in the cemetery.

She was wearing a blue blouse with white pin stripes, blue dungarees and brown suede hiking boots. She had gold ring on her left hand and a silver bracelet on her left arm.

 

[CCJD]

I JUST came across this news paper article and it totally reminded me of Denise Sheehy and the theory of the overdose in the cemetery . It's so weird I have been saying this for a while. I wonder if they ever identified this girl?

Body of Unidentified Woman Found in Queens Cemetery

She was identified, twice (the first was mistaken identity).
Parents Wrongly Identified Dead Girl as Daughter

 

[Mysteries1974]

I’ve always thought that Denise accepted a ride from a stranger and was murdered.

 

[madamx]

She was identified, twice (the first was mistaken identity).
Parents Wrongly Identified Dead Girl as Daughter

Omg wow great find! Omg that really is crazy! Omg!

 

[madamx]

Nobody really knows what happened.
I just have that weird theory because of everything that was going on in the neighborhood at the time and the cemetery's were big hang outs for everybody to drink and party hard and even sleep over. I was talking to a neighbor older than me but 2 years younger than Denise and he had mentioned CALVARY also , because that was the thing to do. And not too long ago I actually saw a post on Facebook on a woodside page that some guy was saying almost the same thing I had been thinking. Again pure speculation and theory . There is nothing that can prove it other than we grew up here.

 

[carbuff]

It sounds more plausible than many of the theories that get floated for long term missing people.

 

[madamx]

It's funny I got my neighbor sort of hooked on this case ( he used to hang out nd had friends in the building Next door) and he wants to see if we can find any old timers to see if we can talk to them and see if they remember.
Yes there are some old timers that still sit on the stoop on their chairs. He said those are the ones we need to find and talk to!

 

[carbuff]

You should get some great stories even if you don't get any information

Mr. Carbuff is from Queens. Not real close though -- Bayside.

 

[madamx]

You should get some great stories even if you don't get any information

Mr. Carbuff is from Queens. Not real close though -- Bayside.

Yes Old timers have the best stories!!!
Oh yay Mr Carbuff a fellow Queens Kid yay....Love it!!!...woohoo!!
So are they any old unidentified Bayside cases??? We have to find those too!! love love old New York cases!!

 

[Odyssey]

The only thing that steers me away from an overdose theory, is that if she'd been alone, her body would have been found.

If she were with other people, I just don't think they all would have gone this long without saying something. IMO someone would have told someone and it would have gotten out.

Also, if she used hard drugs, I think her boyfriend would have known that and said something once she'd been missing for a few days or weeks.

Anything is possible, but it just seems unlikely to me.

 

[madamx]

The only thing that steers me away from an overdose theory, is that if she'd been alone, her body would have been found.

If she were with other people, I just don't think they all would have gone this long without saying something. IMO someone would have told someone and it would have gotten out.

Also, if she used hard drugs, I think her boyfriend would have known that and said something once she'd been missing for a few days or weeks.

Anything is possible, but it just seems unlikely to me.

The neighborhood was plagued by it. If by some chance she was with only one person maybe an older guy and it happened, he could of gone with the secret to his grave or who knows he could of been someone that overdosed later himself.

Also another thing her boyfriend lived In PA nobody knows how long they dated or how much they actually saw each other or spoke to him for him to even know anything really. It's not like it is now with cellphones PA was a long distance phone call back then. And Iam sure it was one phone in the house and the parents paid for the bill. So phone calls were prob minimal.

Maybe she just started using drugs and nobody knew. Again all speculation and from talking to a couple of neighborhood people and reading some things in neighborhood pages on Facebook from others and from growing up myself In the same neighborhood. I could totally be wrong.
Just be interested to know if there was a grave at Calvary that was opened for burial around the time she was missing.

 

[Odyssey]

The neighborhood was plagued by it. If by some chance she was with only one person maybe an older guy and it happened, he could of gone with the secret to his grave or who knows he could of been someone that overdosed later himself.

Also another thing her boyfriend lived In PA nobody knows how long they dated or how much they actually saw each other or spoke to him for him to even know anything really. It's not like it is now with cellphones PA was a long distance phone call back then. And Iam sure it was one phone in the house and the parents paid for the bill. So phone calls were prob minimal.

Maybe she just started using drugs and nobody knew. Again all speculation and from talking to a couple of neighborhood people and reading some things in neighborhood pages on Facebook from others and from growing up myself In the same neighborhood. I could totally be wrong.
Just be interested to know if there was a grave at Calvary that was opened for burial around the time she was missing.

I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive I read that he didn't live in Pennsylvania, but happened to be there visiting family or something when she disappeared.

And yes, I agree that an overdose is possible, and if only one other person knew about it and disposed of her remains, that person might stay quiet. I just can't see multiple people going so long without ever mentioning it to anyone.

 

[Mysteries1974]

What method of Disposal could have been used to get rid of Denise’s body?

 

[madamx]

I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive I read that he didn't live in Pennsylvania, but happened to be there visiting family or something when she disappeared.

And yes, I agree that an overdose is possible, and if only one other person knew about it and disposed of her remains, that person might stay quiet. I just can't see multiple people going so long without ever mentioning it to anyone.

Oh my mistake then ooops i did not know. I thought he lived in PA. Still he could of been totally out of the loop. But who is really to know it is really hard and been so long and not knowing much about their relationship and how long they were together does not help either.

I do know what you mean that if she was with a group and this happened someone at some point in passing would of said something.

 

[madamx]

What method of Disposal could have been used to get rid of Denise’s body?

My theory is the open grave one. Calvary is enormous. I don't know what others theories may be.

 

[madamx]

I’ve always thought that Denise accepted a ride from a stranger and was murdered.

I did not hear that one but that could also be possible.

 

[Richard]

The case summary states that she was wearing a man's school ring. Is it known what school, what year, and what the person's initials were? All of that would be on the ring itself, and could provide a solid clue to look for. Such an artifact might yet be located and could provide information leading to Denise.

 

[carbuff]

The case summary states that she was wearing a man's school ring. Is it known what school, what year, and what the person's initials were? All of that would be on the ring itself, and could provide a solid clue to look for. Such an artifact might yet be located and could provide information leading to Denise.

Yeah, we have quite a number of unidentified women wearing such rings, but without more information, there's no way to tell if it's a similar ring.

 

[madamx]

The case summary states that she was wearing a man's school ring. Is it known what school, what year, and what the person's initials were? All of that would be on the ring itself, and could provide a solid clue to look for. Such an artifact might yet be located and could provide information leading to Denise.

That is a really good point Richard. I don't think i have read what school. If she was 16 it would have to be a junior HS ring since I don't think she would have her HS ring by then but I could be totally wrong. I don't remember when we got our rings in HS because I never got one.

 

[madamx]

I came across this article. It was posted in the beginning of the thread. I found it interesting.

62-year-old woman awaits reunion with her sister, who's been missing since 1970 - NY Daily News

Denise hopped a fence in the courtyard behind the building and exited through an adjacent Mets apartment building. "A neighbor said she saw Denise walking out as she was coming in," she says.

"A drug dealer lived in that building. It was 1970. The year after Woodstock. If a teenager died in Woodside it was in Vietnam or an OD. Nobody was killing teenage girls."

Diehl says the family waited all night for Denise to come home.