NY NY - Margaret "Peggy" Reiley, 30, Syracuse, 16 Aug 1992 *guilty*

[Gardener1850]

The Doe Network:
Case File 2451DFNY

Margaret Reiley
Missing since August 16, 1992 from Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York
Classification: Endangered Missing

---

Vital Statistics

• 
  [*]Age at Time of Disappearance: 30 years old
  [*]Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'11-5'0"; 90 lbs.
  [*]Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Long, brown hair; blue eyes. Thin build.
  [*]Clothing: White, dress shirt and blue jeans.
  [*]Dentals: Available
  [*]AKA: Peggy

---

Circumstances of Disappearance
Margaret left Duffy's Tavern at 501 S. Geddes St. on August 16, 1992 at approximately 0130 hours and was last seen riding in a vehicle in the 600 block of Gifford St. with her boyfriend, Phillip Whaley.
Her live-in boyfriend, reported her missing August 18. Reiley had not picked up her latest welfare check. The boyfriend told police she has never left for more than a day.
Reiley left all of her clothing and her identification in her apartment. She never told her 14-year-old daughter or her live-in boyfriend of any plans to leave.
She and Whaley knew each other from socializing in near west side bars, but they never dated.
A few days after Reiley disappeared, Whaley stopped in at Tony G's to ask if she had turned up. He claimed that he left her and went one way and she got on her bike and went the other way.
On September 29 and 30, police searched the Salmon River hoping to find Reiley's body as a state police helicopter hovered overhead. Nothing was located in the search.
A blue 10-speed bicycle Reiley rode everywhere was found in a storage shed at Whaley's mother's home in Pulaski.
Whaley was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison for the homicide of Reiley and another missing woman, Josephine Chatraw. The bodies of the two women were never found. A witness at the trial testified that Whaley said he shot Reiley twice with a black powder pistol because she tried to steal his cocaine. Then Whaley wrapped her body in blankets and plastic held together with duct tape and rolled her into the Salmon River. The prosecution's only physical evidence against him was a drop of blood found on a pillow in Whaley's camp trailer. DNA tests showed the blood was Reiley's but not how old the blood was or how it got into the trailer.

---

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Syracuse Police Department
315-442-5200

Agency Case Number: 92-12118
NCIC Number: M-586537813
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.
Source Information:
Syracuse Herald-Journal
Syracuse Police Department

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2451dfny.html

 

[Coffee56]

http://charleyproject.org/case/margaret-reiley

Margaret Reiley

• Missing Since08/15/1992
• Missing FromSyracuse, New York
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Date of Birth04/04/1962 (57)
• Age30 years old
• Height and Weight4'11 - 5'0, 90 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA white dress shirt and blue jeans.
• Medical ConditionsReiley had a drinking problem at the time of her disappearance.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Reiley's nickname is Peggy.

Details of Disappearance
Reiley was last seen leaving Tony G's, a bar on Marcellus Street in Syracuse, New York, at approximately midnight on August 15, 1992. She was accompanied by Philip S. Whaley Sr. at the time; they had been drinking at the bar together. She and Whaley knew each other socially, but had never dated. He later said they went in separate directions after leaving the bar, and Reiley rode away on her bicycle.

Reiley has never been heard from again. Her live-in boyfriend reported her as a missing person on August 18. She had not told him or her teenage daughter of any plans to leave, and she left her clothing and identification behind at her apartment in the 400 block of Shonnard Street. She had dropped out of sight before, but had never been gone for longer than a day.

Reiley's blue ten-speed bicycle was located six weeks later, in a storage shed at Whaley's mother's home in Pulaski, New York, forty miles from Syracuse. After the bicycle was found, Whaley changed his story and said he had put Reiley's bicycle in his mother's motor home after they left Tony G's and had started to drive Reiley to her apartment, but she saw a cocaine dealer named "Angel" and asked to be let out so she could buy drugs.

Whaley said he let her out of the motor home a few doors down from her home and kept her bicycle, and he last saw her talking to Angel and another man on the street. Authorities doubted Whaley's account, however, and Reiley's loved ones stated she did not use cocaine. A drop of Reiley's blood was found on a pillow inside Whaley's trailer.

A photo of Whaley is posted with this case summary. He was eventually charged with Reiley's murder and with the murder of another woman, his girlfriend Josephine Chatraw, who disappeared in 1984. He went to trial in 1996. A witness testified that Whaley told him he had shot Reiley twice after she tried to steal his cocaine. He then wrapped her body in blankets and plastic, bound it with duct tape, and dumped the bundle into the Salmon River. Authorities searched the river, but did not uncover any evidence.

Whaley maintained his innocence, but was convicted of both homicides and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. He was the first person in Onondaga County history to be convicted of murder without the victim's body, and his trial was also the first where DNA evidence was presented.

Whaley, who is still in prison and now in poor health, admitted responsibility for Reiley and Chatraw's deaths in 2011. He said they were not intentional homicides, however. He offered to lead authorities to the bodies, and a search was launched in November.

Authorities looked for Chatraw in a wooded area off Cusson Drive in Amboy, New York, but found nothing and gave up after two days. Whaley said he'd put Reiley's body in a garage next to his mother's home in Pulaski, New York, but the building has since been demolished and investigators believe her remains wound up in a landfill.

Foul play is suspected in Chatraw's and Reiley's disappearances due to the circumstances involved. Their remains may not be recoverable.
Investigating Agency

• Syracuse Police Department 315-442-5330

Source Information

• The Doe Network
• The Syracuse Post-Standard
• Syracuse Police Department
• NamUs

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
NamUs #MP7857
Margaret Reiley
Circumstances of Disappearance - Margaret left Duffy's Tavern at 501 S. Geddes Street on August 16, 1992 at approximately 0130 Hours and was last seen riding in a vehicle in the 600 block of Gifford Street with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend, Philip Whaley, has since been convicted of Margaret's murder however she has never been found.

 

[Caring1]

2 Unidentified Person Exclusions